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Measurements collected using five real-time continuous airborne particle monitors were compared to measurements made using reference filter-based samplers at Bakersfield, CA, between December 2, 1998, and January 31, 1999.The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the suitability of each instrument for use in a real-time continuous monitoring network designed to measure the mass of airborne particles with an aerodynamic diam less than 2.5 m (PM 2.5 ) under wintertime conditions in the southern San Joaquin Valley.Measurements of airborne particulate mass made with a beta attenuation monitor (BAM), an integrating nephelometer, and a continuous aerosol mass monitor (CAMM) were found to correlate well with reference measurements made with a filter-based sampler.A Dusttrak aerosol sampler overestimated airborne particle concentrations by a factor of ~3 throughout the study.Measurements of airborne particulate matter IMPLICATIONS Regulatory agencies need instruments that can monitor the concentration of PM 2.5 in real time so that public health advisories can be issued during severe pollution events.Three types of continuous, real-time instruments have been identified that can function in a routine PM 2.5 monitoring network during winter conditions encountered in central California: the BAM, the integrating nephelometer, and the CAMM.Each instrument performed well within a broad PM 2.5 concentration range composed of both volatile and semi-volatile particulate matter.made with a tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) were found to be lower than the reference filterbased measurements by an amount approximately equal to the concentration of NH 4 NO 3 observed to be present in the airborne particles.The performance of the Dusttrak sampler and the integrating nephelometer was affected by the size distribution of airborne particulate matter.The performance of the BAM, the integrating nephelometer, the CAMM, the Dusttrak sampler, and the TEOM was not strongly affected by temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, or wind direction within the range of conditions encountered in the current study.Based on instrument performance, the BAM, the integrating nephelometer, and the CAMM appear to be suitable candidates for deployment in a real-time continuous PM 2.5 monitoring network in central California for the range of winter conditions and aerosol composition encountered during the study.
Chung et al. (Mon,) studied this question.