Comparison of calculated sulfate scattering efficiencies as estimated from size resolved particle mesurements at three national parks
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
Optical properties of aerosols are very dependent on composition and morphology as a function of particle size. To investigate sulfur optical properties at a number of national parks, both in the East and West a Davis Rotating-drum Universal-size-cut (DRUM) impactor was employed to measure size resolved sulfur concentrations during three intensive monitoring periods at Grand Canyon and Meadview, Arizona and at Shenandoah National Park. Eighty-eight measurements at Grand Canyon were made during January and February, 1988, 83 at Meadview during July, August, and September, 1992, and 315 at Shenandoah during the summer of 1990. The DRUM impactor is designed to collect aerosols between 0.07 and 15.0 PM in eight size ranges. The sampler is designed to allow impaction of particles onto drums that rotate at a rate of one revolution per month. Focused beam PIXE analysis of the aerosol deposits results in a time history of size resolved elemental composition of varied temporal resolution. As part of the quality assurance protocol a standard 0-2.5 {mu}m particle monitor was operated simultaneously alongside the DRUM sampler. It consisted of a size selective inlet, a cyclone to provide a particle size cutoff, a Teflon collection substrate, and a critical orifice for flow control. The samples were also submitted to PIXE analysis. Summing the sulfur mass concentration derived from the five DRUM stages that are below 2.5 {mu}m and comparing these values to the 0-2.5 {mu}m sampler showed little deviation between the two samplers. On the average the DRUM and 0-2.5 {mu}m sampler compared to within 1% for the Grand Canyon and Meadview data sets while at Shenandoah the DRUM was approximately 15% lower than the cyclone sampler. The average sulfur mass interpreted as ammonium sulfate was 0.67, 2.3, and 11.1 {mu}g/m{sup 3} at Grand Canyon, Meadview, and Shenandoah respectively.
- OSTI ID:
- 166527
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9510126--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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