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Aerosol Mass Spectrometers: Do they keep their promise? Rainer Vogt Ford Forschungszentrum Aachen GmbH Germany. The promise: Provide time resolved size distribution and chemical composition of ambient aerosol in the 10 nm to 10 m m size range. What have we learnt? What can we learn? (1).
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Aerosol Mass Spectrometers: Do they keep their promise?Rainer VogtFord Forschungszentrum Aachen GmbHGermany
The promise: • Provide time resolved size distribution and chemical composition of ambient aerosol in the 10 nm to 10 mm size range
What have we learnt? What can we learn? (1) • Can aerosol mass spectrometry detect atmospheric aerosol processes? • Yes! (Gard et al, Science 1998)
What can/have we learnt? (2) • Health discussion raises question of relevance of particle number besides PM mass. Can single particle MS do number • apportionment to specific sources? Daily variation of major particle classes (Tan et al., ES&T 2002) 0.5 µm diameter particles at an Autobahn & rural site(Vogt et al., Aerosol Science 2003) • Yes, but attribution depends on instrument and scientist. • Issue with detection efficiency carbon cotaining particles,(Lake et al, ES&T 2003)
Issues with Aerosol Mass Spectrometers • Detection efficiency varies by particle size from 10-2 to 10-6 (for Laserionization) • Ionization efficiency is species dependent (Single Particle MS) • Quantitative analysis only for volatile (non-refractory) PM (AMS) • Labor intense operation and data analysis: limited to special campaigns
The future? • Aerosol mass spectrometers are not the universal aerosol analyser • Use for specific problems: • Chemical composition of 10-100 nm (ultrafine) volatile particles • State of aerosol mixing, atmospheric chemical processing • Source attribution by aerosol number: link to epidemiology/health programs