Ambient aerosol size distributions and number concentrations measured during the Pittsburgh Air Quality Study (PAQS)
Abstract
Twelve months of aerosol size distributions from 3 to 560nm, measured using scanning
mobility particle sizers are presented with an emphasis on average number, surface,
and volume distributions, and seasonal and diurnal variation. The measurements were
made at the main sampling site of the Pittsburgh Air Quality Study from July 2001
to June 2002. These are supplemented with 5 months of size distribution data from
0.5 to 2.5μm measured with a TSI aerosol particle sizer and 2 months of size distributions
measured at an upwind rural sampling site. Measurements at the main site were made
continuously under both low and ambient relative humidity. The average Pittsburgh
number concentration (3-500nm) is 22,000cm-3 with an average mode size of 40nm. Strong
diurnal patterns in number concentrations are evident as a direct effect of the sources
of particles (atmospheric nucleation, traffic, and other combustion sources). New
particle formation from homogeneous nucleation is significant on 30-50% of study days
and over a wide area (at least a hundred kilometers). Rural number concentrations
are a factor of 2-3 lower (on average) than the urban values. Average measured distributions
are different from model literature urban and rural size distributions. © 2004 Elsevier
Ltd. All rights reserved.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6549Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.atmosenv.2004.03.020Publication Info
Stanier, CO; Khlystov, AY; & Pandis, SN (2004). Ambient aerosol size distributions and number concentrations measured during the Pittsburgh
Air Quality Study (PAQS). Atmospheric Environment, 38(20). pp. 3275-3284. 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2004.03.020. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6549.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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