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The Institute for Energy and Environmental Technology (IUTA) and
University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany used the Rupprecht &
Patashnick Series
8400N Particulate Nitrate Monitor to generate time-resolved
measurements of ambient particulate nitrate as part of a multi-instrument
field study. The German research team conducted its trial at an
urban background site in Duisburg, Germany, during 2002 (photo at
right shows measurement platform).
One purpose of the field test was to gain a better understanding
of the interactions that take place among gases and particles in
ambient air. Results from the study were presented at the September
2003 European Aerosol Conference in Madrid, Spain. The presentation
was made by co-author Dr. Thomas Kuhlbusch of IUTA, and was entitled
"On-Line Measurements of Particulate Nitrate at an Urban Background
Site in Duisburg, Germany." Parts of the research project was
funded by R&P and the German state of North-Rhine-Westphalia.
The graphs below show some of the ambient particulate nitrate results
generated by the year-long field study in Germany.
A comparison of daily averages from the Series 8400 monitor and
the particulate nitrate retained on manual filters shows a good
correlation and slope.
The integrated filter collection method loses measurable quantities
of particulate nitrate during sampling periods in which the maximum
ambient temperature exceeds 18 °C. This is shown below by the
increasing ratio of the 8400N to filter particulate nitrate concentrations
as the maximum ambient temperature increases.
In ambient air, the maximum and minimum concentrations of particulate
nitrate (as measured by the Series 8400N monitor) "lag"
behind the corresponding average temperature extremes by approximately
three hours. This "lag time" is due to atmospheric processes
that will be studied in more detail by Dr. Kuhlbusch and his coworkers.
NOTE: Photo and graphs above were
generated and provided by the Institute for Energy and Environmental
Technology (IUTA), Duisburg, Germany.
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Ambient Results from 8400N Monitor 
