@inproceedings{4bc7d1d47a0543d88b2f9f555c0d977a,
title = "Methodologies to compensate for optical saturation and scattering in aethalometer{\texttrademark} black carbon measurements",
abstract = "The Magee Scientific Aethalometer{\texttrademark} is widely-used instrument for measuring aerosol {"}black carbon{"} mass concentration at high time resolution. The Aethalometer continuously collects particles onto a filter and measures the wavelength-dependent transmission of light through the deposit. Several investigators have noted this measurement can be influenced by the complex particle-photon interactions in the particle-filter matrix. 1-5 A first principles model has been developed which shows the effective mass absorption efficiency of the deposited aerosol changes with the mass loading of absorbing particles onto the filter.1 This {"}optical saturation{"} effect is most-commonly observed as step discontinuity in the reported concentration upon advancing the filter tape to deposit aerosol onto a clean filter spot instead of a particle-laden filter spot. We have found the optical saturation effect to have a distinct climatology in both Boston and St. Louis2, presumably due to the presence of high summertime sulfate concentrations which can suppress optical saturation. Equations have been developed to process Aethalometer data to compensate for the optical saturation effect.3-5 These equations are compared to the asymptotic, first-order solution of Arnott and coworkers1 and are used to process collocated data to evaluate improvements in collocated precision.",
keywords = "Aethalometer, Black carbon, Optical saturation",
author = "Turner, \{Jay R.\} and Hansen, \{Anthony D.\} and Allen, \{George A.\}",
year = "2007",
language = "English",
isbn = "9781604239003",
series = "Air and Waste Management Association - Symposium on Air Quality Measurement Methods and Technology 2007",
pages = "20--24",
booktitle = "Air and Waste Management Association - Symposium on Air Quality Measurement Methods and Technology 2007",
note = "Symposium on Air Quality Measurement Methods and Technology 2007 ; Conference date: 30-04-2007 Through 03-05-2007",
}