New York State Urban and Rural Measurements of Continuous PM_2.5 Mass by FDMS, TEOM, and BAM

Abstract

Field evaluations and comparisons of continuous fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) mass measurement technologies at an urban and a rural site in New York state are performed. The continuous measurement technologies include the filter dynamics measurement system (FDMS) tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) monitor, the stand-alone TEOM monitor (without the FDMS), and the beta attenuation monitor (BAM). These continuous measurement methods are also compared with 24-hr integrated filters collected and analyzed under the Federal Reference Method (FRM) protocol. The measurement sites are New York City (the borough of Queens) and Addison, a rural area of southwestern New York state. New York City data comparisons between the FDMS TEOM, BAM, and FRM are examined for bias and seasonality during a 2-yr period. Data comparisons for the FDMS TEOM and FRM from the Addison location are examined for the same 2-yr period. The BAM and FDMS measurements at Queens are highly correlated with each other and the FRM. The BAM and FDMS are very similar to each other in magnitude, and both are ∼25% higher than the FRM filter measurements at this site. The FDMS at Addison measures ∼9% more mass than the FRM. Mass reconstructions using the speciation trends network filter data are examined to provide insight as to the contribution of volatile species of PM_2.5 in the FDMS mass measurement and the fraction that is likely lost in the FRM mass measurement. The reconstructed mass at Queens is systematically lower than the FDMS by ∼10%.