Articles | Volume 16, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-169-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-169-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
13 Jan 2023
Research article |
| 13 Jan 2023
| 13 Jan 2023
Identifying optimal co-location calibration periods for low-cost sensors
University of Connecticut Health Center, Department of Public Health Sciences, UConn School of Medicine, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06032-1941, USA
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 615 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205-2103, USA
SEARCH (Solutions for Energy, Air, Climate and Health) Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Colby Buehler
SEARCH (Solutions for Energy, Air, Climate and Health) Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, P.O. Box 208286, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Abhirup Datta
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins University, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205-2103, USA
Drew R. Gentner
SEARCH (Solutions for Energy, Air, Climate and Health) Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, P.O. Box 208286, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Kirsten Koehler
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 615 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205-2103, USA
SEARCH (Solutions for Energy, Air, Climate and Health) Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
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Related subject area
Subject: Aerosols | Technique: In Situ Measurement | Topic: Validation and Intercomparisons
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Field comparison of dual-spot (AE33) and single-spot (AE31) Aethalometers by full-year collocated measurements suggests that site-specific correction factors are needed to ensure the long-term data continuity for AE31-to-AE33 transition in black carbon monitoring networks; babs agrees well between AE33 and AE31, with slight variations by wavelength (slope: 0.87–1.04; R2: 0.95–0.97). A ~ 20 % difference in secondary brown carbon light absorption was found between AE33 and AE31.
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Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2089–2102, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2089-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2089-2024, 2024
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Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5415–5427, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5415-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5415-2023, 2023
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Low-cost sensors are becoming increasingly important in air quality monitoring due to their affordability and ease of deployment. While low-cost sensors have the potential to democratize air quality monitoring, their use must be accompanied by careful interpretation and validation of the data. Analysis of their long-term data record clearly shows that the reported data from low-cost sensors may not be equally sensitive to all emission sources, which can complicate policy-making.
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Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5075–5089, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5075-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5075-2023, 2023
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Mark Joseph Campmier, Jonathan Gingrich, Saumya Singh, Nisar Baig, Shahzad Gani, Adithi Upadhya, Pratyush Agrawal, Meenakshi Kushwaha, Harsh Raj Mishra, Ajay Pillarisetti, Sreekanth Vakacherla, Ravi Kant Pathak, and Joshua S. Apte
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4357–4374, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4357-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4357-2023, 2023
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We studied a low-cost air pollution sensor called PurpleAir PA-II in three different locations in India (Delhi, Hamirpur, and Bangalore) to characterize its performance. We compared its signal to more expensive reference sensors and found that the PurpleAir sensor was precise but inaccurate without calibration. We created a custom calibration equation for each location, which improved the accuracy of the PurpleAir sensor, and found that calibrations should be adjusted for different seasons.
Mrinmoy Chakraborty, Amanda Giang, and Naomi Zimmerman
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2333–2352, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2333-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2333-2023, 2023
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Black carbon (BC) has important climate and human health impacts. Aethalometers are used to measure BC, but they are hard to deploy in many environments (remote, mobile). We evaluate how well a portable micro-aethalometer (MA300) performs compared to a reference aethalometer at a road-side site in Vancouver, BC, Canada, during regular and wildfire conditions. We find that the MA300 can reproduce overall patterns in concentrations and source characterization but with some underestimation.
William Wandji Nyamsi, Yves-Marie Saint-Drenan, Antti Arola, and Lucien Wald
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2001–2036, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2001-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2001-2023, 2023
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The McClear service provides estimates of surface solar irradiances in cloud-free conditions. By comparing McClear estimates to 1 min measurements performed in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Maldives Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, McClear accurately estimates global irradiance and tends to overestimate direct irrradiance. This work establishes a general overview of the performance of the McClear service.
Paul A. Barrett, Steven J. Abel, Hugh Coe, Ian Crawford, Amie Dobracki, James Haywood, Steve Howell, Anthony Jones, Justin Langridge, Greg M. McFarquhar, Graeme J. Nott, Hannah Price, Jens Redemann, Yohei Shinozuka, Kate Szpek, Jonathan W. Taylor, Robert Wood, Huihui Wu, Paquita Zuidema, Stéphane Bauguitte, Ryan Bennett, Keith Bower, Hong Chen, Sabrina Cochrane, Michael Cotterell, Nicholas Davies, David Delene, Connor Flynn, Andrew Freedman, Steffen Freitag, Siddhant Gupta, David Noone, Timothy B. Onasch, James Podolske, Michael R. Poellot, Sebastian Schmidt, Stephen Springston, Arthur J. Sedlacek III, Jamie Trembath, Alan Vance, Maria A. Zawadowicz, and Jianhao Zhang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6329–6371, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6329-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6329-2022, 2022
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To better understand weather and climate, it is vital to go into the field and collect observations. Often measurements take place in isolation, but here we compared data from two aircraft and one ground-based site. This was done in order to understand how well measurements made on one platform compared to those made on another. Whilst this is easy to do in a controlled laboratory setting, it is more challenging in the real world, and so these comparisons are as valuable as they are rare.
Varaha Ravi Kiran, Madineni Venkat Ratnam, Masatomo Fujiwara, Herman Russchenberg, Frank G. Wienhold, Bomidi Lakshmi Madhavan, Mekalathur Roja Raman, Renju Nandan, Sivan Thankamani Akhil Raj, Alladi Hemanth Kumar, and Saginela Ravindra Babu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4709–4734, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4709-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4709-2022, 2022
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We proposed and conducted the multi-instrumental BACIS (Balloon-borne Aerosol–Cloud Interaction Studies) field campaigns using balloon-borne in situ measurements and ground-based and space-borne remote sensing instruments. Aerosol-cloud interaction is quantified for liquid clouds by segregating aerosol and cloud information in a balloon profile. Overall, the observational approach proposed here demonstrated its capability for understanding the aerosol–cloud interaction process.
Joshin Kumar, Theo Paik, Nishit J. Shetty, Patrick Sheridan, Allison C. Aiken, Manvendra K. Dubey, and Rajan K. Chakrabarty
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4569–4583, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4569-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4569-2022, 2022
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Accurate long-term measurement of aerosol light absorption is vital for assessing direct aerosol radiative forcing. Light absorption by aerosols at the US Department of Energy long-term climate monitoring SGP site is measured using the Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP), which suffers from artifacts and biases difficult to quantify. Machine learning offers a promising path forward to correct for biases in the long-term absorption dataset at the SGP site and similar Class-I areas.
Brayden Nilson, Peter L. Jackson, Corinne L. Schiller, and Matthew T. Parsons
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3315–3328, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3315-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3315-2022, 2022
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Correction models were developed using PurpleAir–Federal Equivalent Method (FEM) hourly fine particulate matter (PM2.5) observation colocation sites across North America (NA). These were evaluated in comparison with four existing models at an additional 15 NA colocation sites. This study provides a robust framework for the evaluation of low-cost PM2.5 sensor correction models using the Canadian AQHI+ system and presents an optimized general correction model for North American PA sensors.
Patrick Weber, Andreas Petzold, Oliver F. Bischof, Benedikt Fischer, Marcel Berg, Andrew Freedman, Timothy B. Onasch, and Ulrich Bundke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3279–3296, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3279-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3279-2022, 2022
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In our laboratory closure study, we measured the full set of aerosol optical properties for different light-absorbing aerosols using a set of instruments.
Our key finding is that the extensive and intensive aerosol optical properties obtained agree with data from reference instruments, except the absorption Ångström exponent of externally mixed aerosols. The reported uncertainty in the single-scattering albedo fulfils the defined goals for Global Climate Observing System applications of 10 %.
Joel C. Corbin, Tobias Schripp, Bruce E. Anderson, Greg J. Smallwood, Patrick LeClercq, Ewan C. Crosbie, Steven Achterberg, Philip D. Whitefield, Richard C. Miake-Lye, Zhenhong Yu, Andrew Freedman, Max Trueblood, David Satterfield, Wenyan Liu, Patrick Oßwald, Claire Robinson, Michael A. Shook, Richard H. Moore, and Prem Lobo
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3223–3242, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3223-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3223-2022, 2022
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The combustion of sustainable aviation fuels in aircraft engines produces particulate matter (PM) emissions with different properties than conventional fuels due to changes in fuel composition. Consequently, the response of various diagnostic instruments to PM emissions may be impacted. We found no significant instrument biases in terms of particle mass, number, and size measurements for conventional and sustainable aviation fuel blends despite large differences in the magnitude of emissions.
Himadri Sekhar Bhowmik, Ashutosh Shukla, Vipul Lalchandani, Jay Dave, Neeraj Rastogi, Mayank Kumar, Vikram Singh, and Sachchida Nand Tripathi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2667–2684, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2667-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2667-2022, 2022
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This study presents comparisons between online and offline measurements of both refractory and non-refractory aerosol. This study shows differences between the measurements, related to either the limitations of the instrument (e.g., aerosol mass spectrometer only observing non-refractory aerosol) or known interferences with the technique (e.g., volatilization or reactions). The findings highlight the measurement methods' accuracy and imply the particular type of measurements needed.
Ruoyang Yuan, Prem Lobo, Greg J. Smallwood, Mark P. Johnson, Matthew C. Parker, Daniel Butcher, and Adrian Spencer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 241–259, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-241-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-241-2022, 2022
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The relationship between the non-volatile particulate matter (nvPM) mass emissions produced by different engine sources and the response of the LII 300 instrument, used for regulatory measurements of nvPM mass emissions in aircraft engine certification tests, was investigated for different sources and operating conditions. Laser fluence optimisation was required for real-time nvPM mass concentration measurements. These results will inform the development of updated calibration protocols.
Yangjunjie Xu-Yang, Rémi Losno, Fabrice Monna, Jean-Louis Rajot, Mohamed Labiadh, Gilles Bergametti, and Béatrice Marticorena
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7657–7680, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7657-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7657-2021, 2021
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Suspended particles in air (aerosols) are sampled with a pump drawing ambient air through a filter. The air inlet must be carefully designed to control the size of sampled particles and to reject the largest ones (> 10 µm). A low-cost sampling head for determination of the finest fraction of aerosol (> 10 µm in diameter) is presented. Compositional data analysis (CoDA) tools are extensively used here to demonstrate similarity between the low-cost sampling head and other existing systems.
Chunshui Lin, Darius Ceburnis, Anna Trubetskaya, Wei Xu, William Smith, Stig Hellebust, John Wenger, Colin O'Dowd, and Jurgita Ovadnevaite
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6905–6916, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6905-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6905-2021, 2021
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Source apportionment of solid-fuel-burning emissions can be complicated by the use of different fuels, stoves, and burning conditions. Here, the organic aerosol mass spectra produced from burning a range of solid fuels in several stoves were compared. This study accounts for the source variability and provides better constraints on the primary factor contributions to the ambient organic aerosol estimations, holding significant implications for public health and policymakers.
Sho Ohata, Tatsuhiro Mori, Yutaka Kondo, Sangeeta Sharma, Antti Hyvärinen, Elisabeth Andrews, Peter Tunved, Eija Asmi, John Backman, Henri Servomaa, Daniel Veber, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Stergios Vratolis, Radovan Krejci, Paul Zieger, Makoto Koike, Yugo Kanaya, Atsushi Yoshida, Nobuhiro Moteki, Yongjing Zhao, Yutaka Tobo, Junji Matsushita, and Naga Oshima
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6723–6748, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6723-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6723-2021, 2021
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Reliable values of mass absorption cross sections (MACs) of black carbon (BC) are required to determine mass concentrations of BC at Arctic sites using different types of filter-based absorption photometers. We successfully estimated MAC values for these instruments through comparison with independent measurements of BC by a continuous soot monitoring system called COSMOS. These MAC values are consistent with each other and applicable to study spatial and temporal variation in BC in the Arctic.
Krista Luoma, Aki Virkkula, Pasi Aalto, Katrianne Lehtipalo, Tuukka Petäjä, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6419–6441, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6419-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6419-2021, 2021
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The study presents a comparison of three absorption photometers that measured ambient aerosol particles at a boreal forest site. The study aims to better understand problems related to filter-based measurements. Results show how different correction algorithms, which are used to produce the data, affect the derived optical properties of aerosol particles.
Jesús Yus-Díez, Vera Bernardoni, Griša Močnik, Andrés Alastuey, Davide Ciniglia, Matic Ivančič, Xavier Querol, Noemí Perez, Cristina Reche, Martin Rigler, Roberta Vecchi, Sara Valentini, and Marco Pandolfi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6335–6355, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6335-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6335-2021, 2021
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Here we characterize the multiple-scattering factor, C, of the dual-spot Aethalometer AE33 and its cross-sensitivity to scattering and wavelength dependence for three background stations: urban, regional and mountaintop. C was obtained for two sets of filter tapes: M8020 and M8060. The cross-sensitivity to scattering and wavelength dependence of C were determined by inter-comparing with other absorption and scattering measurements including multi-angle off-line absorption measurements.
Hui Li, Boming Liu, Xin Ma, Shikuan Jin, Yingying Ma, Yuefeng Zhao, and Wei Gong
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5977–5986, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5977-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5977-2021, 2021
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Radiosonde (RS) is widely used to detect the vertical structures of the planetary boundary layer (PBL), and numerous methods have been proposed for retrieving PBL height (PBLH) from RS data. However, an algorithm that is suitable under all atmospheric conditions does not exist. This study evaluates the performance of four common PBLH algorithms under different thermodynamic stability conditions based on RS data.
Eija Asmi, John Backman, Henri Servomaa, Aki Virkkula, Maria I. Gini, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Thomas Müller, Sho Ohata, Yutaka Kondo, and Antti Hyvärinen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5397–5413, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5397-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5397-2021, 2021
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Absorbing aerosols are warming the planet and accurate measurements of their concentrations in pristine environments are needed. We applied eight different absorbing-aerosol measurement methods in a field campaign at the Arctic Pallas station. The filter-based techniques were found to be the most sensitive to detect the minuscule amounts of black carbon present, showing a 40 % agreement between them. Our results help to reduce uncertainties in absorbing aerosol measurements.
Karoline K. Barkjohn, Brett Gantt, and Andrea L. Clements
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4617–4637, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4617-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4617-2021, 2021
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Although widely used, air sensor measurements are often biased. In this work we develop a correction with a relative humidity term that reduces the bias and improves consistency between different United States regions. This correction equation, along with proposed data cleaning criteria, has been applied to PurpleAir PM2.5 measurements across the US on the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map and has the potential to be successfully used in other air quality and public health applications.
Richard H. Moore, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Adam T. Ahern, Stephen Zimmerman, Lauren Montgomery, Pedro Campuzano Jost, Claire E. Robinson, Luke D. Ziemba, Edward L. Winstead, Bruce E. Anderson, Charles A. Brock, Matthew D. Brown, Gao Chen, Ewan C. Crosbie, Hongyu Guo, Jose L. Jimenez, Carolyn E. Jordan, Ming Lyu, Benjamin A. Nault, Nicholas E. Rothfuss, Kevin J. Sanchez, Melinda Schueneman, Taylor J. Shingler, Michael A. Shook, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Nicholas L. Wagner, and Jian Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4517–4542, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4517-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4517-2021, 2021
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Atmospheric particles are everywhere and exist in a range of sizes, from a few nanometers to hundreds of microns. Because particle size determines the behavior of chemical and physical processes, accurately measuring particle sizes is an important and integral part of atmospheric field measurements! Here, we discuss the performance of two commonly used particle sizers and how changes in particle composition and optical properties may result in sizing uncertainties, which we quantify.
Alexandra J. Boris, Satoshi Takahama, Andrew T. Weakley, Bruno M. Debus, Stephanie L. Shaw, Eric S. Edgerton, Taekyu Joo, Nga L. Ng, and Ann M. Dillner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4355–4374, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4355-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4355-2021, 2021
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Infrared spectrometry can be applied in routine monitoring of atmospheric particles to give comprehensive characterization of the organic material by bond rather than species. Using this technique, the concentrations of particle organic material were found to decrease 2011–2016 in the southeastern US, driven by a decline in highly aged material, concurrent with declining anthropogenic emissions. However, an increase was observed in the fraction of more moderately aged organic matter.
Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Benjamin A. Nault, Douglas A. Day, Jason C. Schroder, Dongwook Kim, Jack E. Dibb, Maximilian Dollner, Bernadett Weinzierl, and Jose L. Jimenez
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3631–3655, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3631-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3631-2021, 2021
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We utilize a set of high-quality datasets collected during the NASA Atmospheric Tomography Mission to investigate the impact of differences in observable particle sizes across aerosol instruments in aerosol measurement comparisons. Very good agreement was found between chemically and physically derived submicron aerosol volume. Results support a lack of significant unknown biases in the response of an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) when sampling remote aerosols across the globe.
Xiaolu Zhang, Krystyna Trzepla, Warren White, Sean Raffuse, and Nicole Pauly Hyslop
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3217–3231, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3217-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3217-2021, 2021
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Three models of carbon analyzer were used in the past decade to measure carbonaceous particles from samples collected within the Chemical Speciation Network. This study compares results from these analyzer models to investigate the impact on long-term data from instrument differences. Good agreement was found among the three models for total carbon, organic carbon, and elemental carbon, while the reasons for and implications of some notable differences in their subtractions are investigated.
Hengnan Guo, Zefeng Zhang, Lin Jiang, Junlin An, Bin Zhu, Hanqing Kang, and Jing Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2441–2450, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2441-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2441-2021, 2021
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Visibility is an indicator of atmospheric transparency and is widely used in many research fields. Although efforts have been made to improve the performance of visibility meters, a significant error exists in measured visibility data. This is because current methods of visibility measurement include a false assumption, which leads to the long-term neglect of an important source of visibility errors. Without major adjustments to current methods, it is not possible to obtain reliable data.
Rosaria E. Pileci, Robin L. Modini, Michele Bertò, Jinfeng Yuan, Joel C. Corbin, Angela Marinoni, Bas Henzing, Marcel M. Moerman, Jean P. Putaud, Gerald Spindler, Birgit Wehner, Thomas Müller, Thomas Tuch, Arianna Trentini, Marco Zanatta, Urs Baltensperger, and Martin Gysel-Beer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1379–1403, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1379-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1379-2021, 2021
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Black carbon (BC), which is an important constituent of atmospheric aerosols, remains difficult to quantify due to various limitations of available methods. This study provides an extensive comparison of co-located field measurements, applying two methods based on different principles. It was shown that both methods indeed quantify the same aerosol property – BC mass concentration. The level of agreement that can be expected was quantified, and some reasons for discrepancy were identified.
Ondřej Tichý, Miroslav Hýža, Nikolaos Evangeliou, and Václav Šmídl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 803–818, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-803-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-803-2021, 2021
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We present an investigation of the usability of newly developed real-time concentration monitoring systems, which are based on the gamma-ray counting of aerosol filters. These high-resolution data were used for inverse modeling of the 106Ru release in 2017. Our inverse modeling results agree with previously published estimates and provide better temporal resolution of the estimates.
Martine Collaud Coen, Elisabeth Andrews, Alessandro Bigi, Giovanni Martucci, Gonzague Romanens, Frédéric P. A. Vogt, and Laurent Vuilleumier
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6945–6964, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6945-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6945-2020, 2020
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The Mann–Kendall trend test requires prewhitening in the presence of serially correlated data. The effects of five prewhitening methods and time granularity, autocorrelation, temporal segmentation and length of the time series on the statistical significance and the slope are studies for seven atmospheric datasets. Finally, a new algorithm using three prewhitening methods is proposed in order to optimize the power of the test, the amount of erroneous false positive trends and the slope estimate.
Charlotte M. Beall, Dolan Lucero, Thomas C. Hill, Paul J. DeMott, M. Dale Stokes, and Kimberly A. Prather
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6473–6486, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6473-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6473-2020, 2020
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Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) can influence multiple climate-relevant cloud properties. Previous studies report INP observations from precipitation samples that were stored prior to analysis, yet storage protocols vary widely, and little is known about how storage impacts INPs. This study finds that storing samples at −20 °C best preserves INP concentrations and that significant losses of small INPs occur across all storage protocols.
Benjamin A. Nault, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Douglas A. Day, Hongyu Guo, Duseong S. Jo, Anne V. Handschy, Demetrios Pagonis, Jason C. Schroder, Melinda K. Schueneman, Michael J. Cubison, Jack E. Dibb, Alma Hodzic, Weiwei Hu, Brett B. Palm, and Jose L. Jimenez
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6193–6213, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6193-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6193-2020, 2020
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Collecting particulate matter, or aerosols, onto filters to be analyzed offline is a widely used method to investigate the mass concentration and chemical composition of the aerosol, especially the inorganic portion. Here, we show that acidic aerosol (sulfuric acid) collected onto filters and then exposed to high ammonia mixing ratios (from human emissions) will lead to biases in the ammonium collected onto filters, and the uptake of ammonia is rapid (< 10 s), which impacts the filter data.
Laurent Poulain, Gerald Spindler, Achim Grüner, Thomas Tuch, Bastian Stieger, Dominik van Pinxteren, Jean-Eudes Petit, Olivier Favez, Hartmut Herrmann, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4973–4994, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4973-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4973-2020, 2020
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The stability and the comparability between ACSM and collocated filter sampling and MPSS measurements was investigated in order to examine the instruments robustness for year-long measurements. Specific attention was paid to the influence of the upper size cutoff diameter to better understand how it might affect the data validation. Recommendations are provided for better on-site quality assurance and quality control of the ACSM, which would be useful for either long-term or intensive campaigns.
Martin Rigler, Luka Drinovec, Gašper Lavrič, Athanasia Vlachou, André S. H. Prévôt, Jean Luc Jaffrezo, Iasonas Stavroulas, Jean Sciare, Judita Burger, Irena Kranjc, Janja Turšič, Anthony D. A. Hansen, and Griša Močnik
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4333–4351, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4333-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4333-2020, 2020
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Carbonaceous aerosols are a large fraction of fine particulate matter. They are extremely diverse, and they directly impact air quality, visibility, cloud formation and public health. In this paper we present a new instrument and new method to measure carbon content in particulate matter in real time and at a high time resolution. The new method was validated in a 1-month winter field campaign in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Rosa Delia García-Cabrera, Emilio Cuevas-Agulló, África Barreto, Victoria Eugenia Cachorro, Mario Pó, Ramón Ramos, and Kees Hoogendijk
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2601–2621, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2601-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2601-2020, 2020
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Spectral direct UV–visible normal solar irradiance, measured with an EKO MS-711 grating spectroradiometer at the Izaña Atmospheric Observatory (Spain), has been used to determine aerosol optical depth (AOD) at several wavelengths, and has been compared to synchronous AOD measurements from a reference AERONET (Aerosol RObotic NETwork) Cimel sun photometer.
Yan Zheng, Xi Cheng, Keren Liao, Yaowei Li, Yong Jie Li, Ru-Jin Huang, Weiwei Hu, Ying Liu, Tong Zhu, Shiyi Chen, Limin Zeng, Douglas R. Worsnop, and Qi Chen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2457–2472, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2457-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2457-2020, 2020
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This paper provides important information to help researchers to understand the mass quantification and source apportionment by Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometers.
Minxing Si, Ying Xiong, Shan Du, and Ke Du
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1693–1707, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1693-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1693-2020, 2020
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The study evaluated the performance of a low-cost PM sensor in ambient conditions and calibrated its readings using simple linear regression (SLR), multiple linear regression (MLR), and two more powerful machine-learning algorithms with random search techniques for the best model architectures. The two machine-learning algorithms are XGBoost and a feedforward neural network (NN).
Zhe Jiang, Minzheng Duan, Huizheng Che, Wenxing Zhang, Teruyuki Nakajima, Makiko Hashimoto, Bin Chen, and Akihiro Yamazaki
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1195–1212, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1195-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1195-2020, 2020
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This study analyzed the aerosol optical properties derived by SKYRAD.pack versions 5.0 and 4.2 using the radiometer measurements over Qionghai and Yucheng in China, which are two new sites of SKYNET. The seasonal variability of the aerosol properties over the two sites were investigated based on SKYRAD.pack V5.0. The validation results provide valuable references for continued improvement of the retrieval algorithms of SKYNET and other aerosol observational networks.
Ernest Nyaku, Robert Loughman, Pawan K. Bhartia, Terry Deshler, Zhong Chen, and Peter R. Colarco
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1071–1087, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1071-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1071-2020, 2020
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This paper shows the importance of the nature of the aerosol phase function used in the retrieval of the stratospheric aerosol extinction from limb scattering measurements. The aerosol phase function is derived from the parameters using either a unimodal lognormal or gamma aerosol size distribution. These two distributions were fitted to the same aerosol concentration measurements at two altitudes, and depending on the nature of the measurements, each distribution shows its strengths.
Fan Mei, Jian Wang, Jennifer M. Comstock, Ralf Weigel, Martina Krämer, Christoph Mahnke, John E. Shilling, Johannes Schneider, Christiane Schulz, Charles N. Long, Manfred Wendisch, Luiz A. T. Machado, Beat Schmid, Trismono Krisna, Mikhail Pekour, John Hubbe, Andreas Giez, Bernadett Weinzierl, Martin Zoeger, Mira L. Pöhlker, Hans Schlager, Micael A. Cecchini, Meinrat O. Andreae, Scot T. Martin, Suzane S. de Sá, Jiwen Fan, Jason Tomlinson, Stephen Springston, Ulrich Pöschl, Paulo Artaxo, Christopher Pöhlker, Thomas Klimach, Andreas Minikin, Armin Afchine, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 661–684, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-661-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-661-2020, 2020
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In 2014, the US DOE G1 aircraft and the German HALO aircraft overflew the Amazon basin to study how aerosols influence cloud cycles under a clean condition and around a tropical megacity. This paper describes how to meaningfully compare similar measurements from two research aircraft and identify the potential measurement issue. We also discuss the uncertainty range for each measurement for further usage in model evaluation and satellite data validation.
Andebo Waza, Kilian Schneiders, Jan May, Sergio Rodríguez, Bernd Epple, and Konrad Kandler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6647–6665, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6647-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6647-2019, 2019
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Deposition or other passive measurement techniques are used to sample mineral dust from the atmosphere. However, there exist a multitude of different collection instruments with different, usually not well-characterized sampling efficiencies, so the resulting data might be considerably biased with respect to their size representatively. In the paper, we report on collection properties of different deposition and other passive samplers based on single-particle measurements.
Michael Pikridas, Spiros Bezantakos, Griša Močnik, Christos Keleshis, Fred Brechtel, Iasonas Stavroulas, Gregoris Demetriades, Panayiota Antoniou, Panagiotis Vouterakos, Marios Argyrides, Eleni Liakakou, Luka Drinovec, Eleni Marinou, Vassilis Amiridis, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, and Jean Sciare
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6425–6447, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6425-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6425-2019, 2019
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This work evaluates the performance of three sensors that monitor black carbon (soot). These sensors exhibit similar behavior to their rack-mounted counterparts and are therefore promising for more extended use. A reconstruction of the black carbon mass vertical distribution above Athens, Greece, is shown using drones, similar to those acquired by remote-sensing techniques. The potential of combining miniature sensors with drones for at least the lower part of the atmosphere is exhibited.
Bonne Ford, Jeffrey R. Pierce, Eric Wendt, Marilee Long, Shantanu Jathar, John Mehaffy, Jessica Tryner, Casey Quinn, Lizette van Zyl, Christian L'Orange, Daniel Miller-Lionberg, and John Volckens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6385–6399, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6385-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6385-2019, 2019
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This study demonstrates the use of a low-cost sensor in a citizen-science network, Citizen-Enabled Aerosol Measurements for Satellites (CEAMS), to measure air quality in participants’ backyards. The pilot network was conducted in the fall and winter of 2017 in northern Colorado. Measurements of aerosols taken by the citizens are also compared to standard air quality instruments.
Honey Dawn C. Alas, Kay Weinhold, Francesca Costabile, Antonio Di Ianni, Thomas Müller, Sascha Pfeifer, Luca Di Liberto, Jay R. Turner, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 4697–4712, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4697-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4697-2019, 2019
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Traffic-related air pollutants are highly variable in space. To determine their spatial distribution in relation to human exposure, portable black carbon and PM2.5 mass concentration sensors aboard mobile platforms can be used. High-spatial-resolution data can help improve exposure estimates. The quality of these data becomes increasingly important. This study provides a detailed methodology on how to achieve highly quality assured data from the abovementioned mobile measurements.
Sanna Saarikoski, Leah R. Williams, Steven R. Spielman, Gregory S. Lewis, Arantzazu Eiguren-Fernandez, Minna Aurela, Susanne V. Hering, Kimmo Teinilä, Philip Croteau, John T. Jayne, Thorsten Hohaus, Douglas R. Worsnop, and Hilkka Timonen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3907–3920, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3907-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3907-2019, 2019
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An air-to-air ultrafine particle concentrator (Aerosol Dynamics Inc. concentrator; ADIc) has been tailored for the low (~ 0.08 L min−1) inlet flow of aerosol mass spectrometers, and it provides a factor of 8–21 enrichment in the concentration of particles. The ADIc was evaluated in laboratory and field measurements. The results showed that the concentration factor depends primarily on the ratio between the sample flow and the output flow and is independent of particle size above about 10 nm.
Cited articles
Air Quality Sensor Performance Evaluation Center (AQ-SPEC): Field Evaluation of AirThinx IAQ, 2016, Field Evaluation of AirThinx IAQ, http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/aq-spec/field-evaluations/airthinx-iaq--field-evaluation.pdf?sfvrsn=18, (last access: March 2022), 2016a.
Air Quality Sensor Performance Evaluation Center (AQ-SPEC): Field Evaluation
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Short summary
We assessed five pairs of co-located reference and low-cost sensor data sets (PM2.5, O3, NO2, NO, and CO) to make recommendations for best practices regarding the field calibration of low-cost air quality sensors. We found diminishing improvements for calibration periods longer than about 6 weeks for all sensors and that co-location can be minimized if the period is strategically selected and monitored so that the calibration period is representative of the desired measurement setting.
We assessed five pairs of co-located reference and low-cost sensor data sets (PM2.5, O3, NO2,...
