Precision and accuracy of. beta. gauge for aerosol mass determinations

Journal Article · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1982 · Environ. Sci. Technol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/es00098a014· OSTI ID:5435243

Courtney, W J ^[1]; Shaw, R W; Dzabay, T G

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1. Northrop Services, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC

Results of an experimental determination of the precision and the accuracy of a ..beta..-ray attenuation method for measurement of aerosol mass are presented. The instrumental precision for a short-term experiment was 25 ..mu..g for a 6.5-cm/sup 2/ deposit collected on approximately 1 mg/cm/sup 2/ Teflon filters; for a longer-term experiment the precision was 27 ..mu..g. The precision of the gravimetric determinations of aerosol deposits was 22 ..mu..g for Teflon filters weighed to 1 ..mu..g. Filter reorientation and air density changes that were able adversely to affect the ..beta..-ray attenuation results are discussed. ..beta..-ray attenuation results are in good agreement with gravimetric measurements on the same filter-collected aerosols. Using dichotomous samplers in Durham, NC, we collected 136 aerosol samples on Teflon filters in two size ranges. A regression line was calculated implicitly assuming errors in both measurements of mass. The 90% confidence intervals lay within 21 ..mu..g of the regression line for mean fine fraction aerosol mass loadings of 536 ..mu..g and within 19 ..mu..g of the regression line for mean coarse fraction aerosol mass loadings of 349 ..mu..g. Any bias between gravimetric and ..beta..-gauge mass measurements was found to be less than 5%.

• OSTI ID: 5435243
• Journal Information: Environ. Sci. Technol.; (United States), Journal Name: Environ. Sci. Technol.; (United States) Vol. 16:4; ISSN ESTHA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400102 -- Chemical & Spectral Procedures
500101* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Basic Studies-- Radiometric Techniques-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACCURACY
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION
ATTENUATION
BETA PARTICLES
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
GRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS
MASS
POLLUTION
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SOLS