| Volumes and Issues Contents of Issue 2 |
www.atmos-meas-tech.net/2/773/2009/
doi:10.5194/amt-2-773-2009
© Author(s) 2009. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Real-time profiling of organic trace gases in the planetary boundary layer by PTR-MS using a tethered balloon
Institute of Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Abstract. A method for real-time profiling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was developed combining the advantages of a tethered balloon as a research platform and of proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) as an analytical technique for fast and highly sensitive VOC measurements. A 200 m Teflon tube was used to draw sampling air from a tethered aerodynamic balloon to the PTR-MS instrument. Positive and negative artefacts (i.e. formation and loss of VOCs in the tube) were characterised in the laboratory and in the field by a set of 11 atmospherically relevant VOCs including both pure and oxygenated hydrocarbons. The only two compounds that increased or decreased when sampled through the tube were acetone (+7%) and xylene (-6%). The method was successfully deployed during a winter field campaign to determine the small scale spatial and temporal patterns of air pollutants under winter inversion conditions.
Final Revised Paper (PDF, 774 KB) Discussion Paper (AMTD)
Citation: Schnitzhofer, R., Wisthaler, A., and Hansel, A.: Real-time profiling of organic trace gases in the planetary boundary layer by PTR-MS using a tethered balloon, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 2, 773-777, doi:10.5194/amt-2-773-2009, 2009. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
