Open AccessMeasurements of sulfur dioxide during GASIE with the mist chamber technique
Author(s) -
Talbot R. W.,
Scheuer E. M.,
Lefer B. L.,
Luke W. T.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/97jd00132
Subject(s) - parts per notation , sulfur dioxide , mist , formic acid , volume (thermodynamics) , nitrogen dioxide , environmental science , nitric acid , analytical chemistry (journal) , mixing ratio , sulfur , aerosol , materials science , environmental chemistry , meteorology , chemistry , chromatography , inorganic chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
This paper highlights the performance of the mist chamber/ion chromatography (MC/IC) technique for measuring atmospheric sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) during the Gas‐Phase Sulfur Intercomparison Experiment (GASIE). The technique was found to be free of interference from CO, CO 2 , CH 4 , NO x , O 3 , CH 3 SCH 3 , and H 2 O vapor. Repeated measurements at various mixing ratios of SO 2 indicated that the coefficient of variation in the MC/IC measurement is 3–5% at 300–500 parts per trillion by volume (pptv), 4–7% at 150 pptv, 10% at 50 pptv, and as great as 20% near 20 pptv. In ambient air diluted five‐ to tenfold with zero air, the MC/IC technique tracked the other methods over the range of 30–3500 pptv. This agreement reinforced the conclusions obtained during the other test phases of GASIE. The MC/IC method has desirable features such as simplicity, small size, and weight of required equipment, sample integration times of 10 min or less, low pptv detection capabilities, and relatively modest implementation costs. In addition, a suite of important soluble gases can be measured simultaneously including nitric, formic, and acetic acids.