Open AccessMeasurements comparison of oxygenated volatile organic compounds at a rural site during the 1995 SOS Nashville Intensive
Author(s) -
Apel E. C.,
Calvert J. G.,
Riemer D.,
Pos W.,
Zika R.,
Kleindienst T. E.,
Lonneman W. A.,
Fung K.,
Fujita E.,
Shepson P. B.,
Starn T. K.,
Roberts P. T.
Publication year - 1998
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 - 10.1029/98jd01753
Subject(s) - acetaldehyde , formaldehyde , chemistry , cartridge , chromatography , flame ionization detector , acetone , volatile organic compound , gas chromatography , volatilisation , mass spectrometry , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , sorbent , environmental chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , organic chemistry , materials science , adsorption , ethanol , metallurgy
Simultaneous measurements of oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) by four independent research groups at the Youth Incorporated (YI) site during the 1995 Southern Oxidants Study Nashville Intensive, between July 4 and 30, 1995, provided a unique opportunity to compare results from different techniques. 2,4‐Dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) coated C18 (C18 AtmAA ) and Si‐Gel (Si‐Gel MTE ) cartridges were compared with each other and with two sorbent‐based preconcentration gas chromatographic (GC) techniques coupled with mass spectrometric (MS) detection (GC/MS UM and GC/MS PU ) or flame ionization detection GC/FID UM · The experiment consisted of both a laboratory (part A) and an ambient air comparison (part B). In part A of the study, standard mixtures of OVOCs were diluted in a flowing gas stream of humidified, purified air, both with and without addition of O3, and distributed to participant's instrumentation. Concentrations were compared with the expected values based on known cylinder concentrations and dilution factors. In part B of the study, the instruments sampled ambient air from a common glass manifold. Species intercompared were formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, and propanal. The C18 AtmAA data were typically higher than the Si‐Gel MTE data for the four intercompared compounds, and possible explanations are given. Agreement between the cartridge systems and the GC/MS, GC/FID systems for comeasured compounds was poorer than expected but improved towards the end of the experiment. The GC/MS systems tracked each other well for acetone, but there were differences in the absolute concentration values. These results show that improvements in the accuracy and comparability of techniques should be of high priority.