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| Titel |
Real-time profiling of organic trace gases in the planetary boundary layer by PTR-MS using a tethered balloon |
| VerfasserIn |
Ralf Schnitzhofer, Armin Wisthaler, Armin Hansel |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2010
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 12 (2010) |
| Datensatznummer |
250035432
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| Zusammenfassung |
| A method for real time profiling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was developed
combining the advantages of a tethered balloon as a research platform and of proton transfer
reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) as an analytical technique for fast and highly sensitive
VOC measurements. A 200 m Teflon tube was used to draw sampling air from a tethered
aerodynamic balloon to the PTR-MS instrument. Positive and negative artefacts
(i.e. formation or loss of VOCs in the tube) were characterised in the laboratory
and in the field with a set of 11 atmospherically relevant VOCs including pure
hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons. The only two compounds that showed a
measurable change when sampled through the 200 m long tube were acetone (7%
increase) and xylene (6% loss). The method was successfully deployed during a winter
field campaign to determine the small scale spatial and temporal patterns of air
pollutants under winter inversion conditions. Real-time profiling of organic trace gases
in the planetary boundary layer by PTR-MS using a tethered balloon has great
potential to bridge the gap between ground based and aircraft measurements which,
for safety reasons, cannot be conducted in the lowermost 150 m above ground. |
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