PNNL

Abstract

Aerosol chemical composition, size distributions, and optical properties were measured during 17 aircraft flights in New England and Middle Atlantic States as part of the summer 2002 NEAQS field campaign. An Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) was operated with a measurement cycle of 30 s, about an order of magnitude faster than used for ground-based measurements. Noise levels within a single measurement period were sub µg m-3. Volume data derived from the AMS were compared with volume measurements from a PCASP optical particle detector and an Scanning Mobility Particle Spectrometer (SMPS); calculated light scattering was compared with measured values from an integrating nephelometer. The median ratio for AMS/SMPS volume was 1.25; the median ratio for AMS/nephelometer scattering was 1.18. Size spectra were compared for subsets of samples with different effective diameters (Deff). There is good agreement between the AMS, PCASP, and SMPS spectra for larger values of Deff but an unexplained over-prediction in the AMS for small values. A dependence of the AMS collection efficiency on aerosol acidity was quantified by a comparison between AMS and PCASP volumes in 2 high sulfate plumes. Average aerosol concentrations were 11 µg m-3. The organic content was high in comparison to monitoring data from the IMPROVE network, varying from 70% in clean air to 40% in high concentration sulfate plumes. The ratio of organic aerosol to CO and light absorption acting were examined as a function of photochemical age. CO is a conservative tracer for urban emissions and light absorption is a surrogate for black carbon which is also conservative. Comparisons were made to surface ratios measured under conditions where there is little secondary organic aerosol (SOA). An increase in these ratios relative to surface values indicates that 70 - 80% of the organic aerosol in polluted air masses was secondary. Most of this SOA is rapidly formed within a few hours. At longer time scales there is a slow accumulation of organic aerosol and a slow increase in light absorption per unit mass of black carbon. Our results demonstrate the utility of the AMS as a rapid response instrument suitable for aircraft operations.