Determination of SO2, HNO3, NH3 and aerosol components at a high alpine background site with a filter pack method

✍ Scribed by Anne Kasper; Hans Puxbaum

• Book ID: 102987034
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 783 KB
• Volume: 291
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0003-2670
• DOI: 10.1016/0003-2670(94)80025-1

✦ Synopsis

In the time period from November 1991 to November 1992 measurements of SO,, HNO,, NH, and particulate SO:-, NO; and NH: were conducted at the Sonnblick Observatory in the Austrian Alps. To allow continuous daily measurements a filter pack was used. The precision of the method was checked in respect to the harsh meteorological conditions at the high alpine site and showed acceptable coefficients of variance (< 20%) for particulate matter and nitric acid and slightly higher variations for the gases ammonia (25%) and sulphur dioxide (30%). The annual variations showed large seasonal differences for the aerosol components and for the gases nitric acid and ammonia. Maximum summer/winter ratios were 8, 11 and 17 for the aerosol species NO;, SOi-and NH: respectively and 5 for HNO, and NH,. No marked summer/winter differences could be determined for sulphur dioxide. During winter the absolute concentrations at Mt. Sonnblick were comparable with results reported for measurements of free tropospheric air. In summer a wide scatter of concentrations was determined ranging up to values typically for the planetary boundary layer in remote regions.