Carbon mass determinations during the AIDA soot aerosol campaign 1999

Abstract

During the soot aerosol campaign particle carbon mass concentrations of Diesel soot, spark generated “Palas” soot, external and internal mixtures of Diesel soot with (NH4)2SO4, and particles coated with secondary organic aerosol material were determined by several different methods. Two methods were based on thermochemical filter analysis with coulometric and NDIR detection of evolved CO2 (total carbon, TC and elemental carbon, EC) and four methods employed optical techniques: aethalometry (black carbon, BC), photoacoustic soot detection (BC), photoelectron emission, and extinction measurement at 473 nm. Furthermore, β-attenuation (total particulate mass), FTIR spectroscopy (sulphate), and COSIMA model calculations were used to determine particle mass concentrations. The general agreement between most methods was good although some methods did not reach their usual performance. TC determined by coulometric filter analysis showed good correlations with optical extinction, photoacoustic BC signal, and photoelectron emission data. However, the evolution of the photoelectron emission signal correlated with changes in accessible surface area rather than mass concentration and was very sensitive to surface conditions. The BC content as measured by the aethalometers approximately equal to less than 70% of the EC content for Diesel soot and amounts to less than 25% of the EC content of “Palas” soot.