TY - JOUR
T1 - Model-measurement consistency and limits of bioaerosol abundance over the continental United States
AU - Zawadowicz, Maria A.
AU - Froyd, Karl D.
AU - Perring, Anne E.
AU - Murphy, Daniel M.
AU - Spracklen, Dominick V.
AU - Heald, Colette L.
AU - Buseck, Peter R.
AU - Cziczo, Daniel J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Georg Thieme Verlag. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/11/19
Y1 - 2019/11/19
N2 - Due to low concentrations and chemical complexity, in situ observations of bioaerosol are geographically and temporally sparse, and this limits the accuracy of current emissions inventories. In this study, we apply a new methodology, including corrections for misidentification of mineral dust, to measurements of single particles over four airborne sampling campaigns to derive vertical profiles of bioaerosol over the continental United States. The new methodology is based on single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS); it can extend historic datasets to include measurements of bioaerosol, it allows comparisons to other techniques, and it generally agrees with a global aerosol model. In the locations sampled, bioaerosols were at least a factor of 10 less abundant than mineral dust. Below 2 km, bioaerosol concentrations were measured between 6×103 and 2×104 m-3. Between 2 and 8 km, bioaerosol concentrations were between 0 and 2 × 104 m-3, and above 8 km, bioaerosol concentrations were between 0 and 1 × 103 m-3. Between 30 % and 80 % of single bioaerosol particles detected were internally mixed with dust. A direct comparison of the SPMS methodology with a co-located wideband integrated bioaerosol sensor (WIB) fluorescence sensor on a mountaintop site showed agreement to within a factor of 3 over the common size range.
AB - Due to low concentrations and chemical complexity, in situ observations of bioaerosol are geographically and temporally sparse, and this limits the accuracy of current emissions inventories. In this study, we apply a new methodology, including corrections for misidentification of mineral dust, to measurements of single particles over four airborne sampling campaigns to derive vertical profiles of bioaerosol over the continental United States. The new methodology is based on single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS); it can extend historic datasets to include measurements of bioaerosol, it allows comparisons to other techniques, and it generally agrees with a global aerosol model. In the locations sampled, bioaerosols were at least a factor of 10 less abundant than mineral dust. Below 2 km, bioaerosol concentrations were measured between 6×103 and 2×104 m-3. Between 2 and 8 km, bioaerosol concentrations were between 0 and 2 × 104 m-3, and above 8 km, bioaerosol concentrations were between 0 and 1 × 103 m-3. Between 30 % and 80 % of single bioaerosol particles detected were internally mixed with dust. A direct comparison of the SPMS methodology with a co-located wideband integrated bioaerosol sensor (WIB) fluorescence sensor on a mountaintop site showed agreement to within a factor of 3 over the common size range.
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U2 - 10.5194/acp-19-13859-2019
DO - 10.5194/acp-19-13859-2019
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85075325431
SN - 1680-7316
VL - 19
SP - 13859
EP - 13870
JO - Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
JF - Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
IS - 22
ER -