Measurement of Both Nonvolatile and Semi-Volatile Fractions of Fine Particulate Matter in Fresno, CA

An intensive sampling campaign was performed in Fresno, CA during December 2003 measuring fine particulate matter including both the semi-volatile and nonvolatile fractions of the aerosol. Both the newly developed R&P FDMS Monitor and a PC-BOSS have been shown to measure total PM 2.5 concentrations including semi-volatile nitrate and organic material. Good agreement was observed between the PC-BOSS and the R&P FDMS Monitor in this study with linear regression analysis resulting in a zero-intercept slope of 1.00 ± 0.02 and an R 2 = 0.93. Several real-time measuring systems including the R&P Differential TEOM, the Met One BAMS, and a GRIMM Monitor were also employed and comparisons of total PM 2.5 mass were made with the R&P FDMS Monitor. Agreement among these various monitors was generally good. However, differences were sometimes seen. Reasons for observed differences in the real-time mass measurement systems are explained by the composition and complexity of the measured aerosol, most importantly the com...