{"47198":{"#nid":"47198","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Instrument Automates Sampling of Atmospheric Pollutants","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy automating the collection of data, the Particle-Into-Liquid-Sampler (PILS) developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology can measure particulate pollutants several times an hour, giving atmospheric scientists detailed time-dependent information not previously available.  In a recent study, this ability to make frequent measurements revealed previously unknown peaks in the levels of two key pollutants.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022Chemists have made significant advances in measuring trace species,\u0022 said Rodney Weber, assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.  \u0022We are applying those technologies to measure the composition of atmospheric particles.  In combination with the ion chromatograph, this instrument provides some unique insights that could not be obtained before.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nDeveloped by Weber and colleague Douglas Orsini with help from Brookhaven National Laboratory, the PILS system uses small quantities of steam to form water droplets on individual aerosol particles entering the instrument.  The water droplets containing the dissolved aerosols can then be captured and analyzed by ion chromatography techniques to detect as many as 15 different chemical species.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe instrument can operate unattended for extended periods of time on the ground or in research aircraft, and can take samples as often as every four minutes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nScientists analyzing airborne particulates had previously relied on filters that collected the aerosol particles over a long period of time, usually 24 hours.  The particles were then removed from the filters and dissolved in water for ion chromatograph analysis.  These long time-integrated measurements have provided the air quality data to study the effects of aerosols on human health.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Scientists studying a class of atmospheric pollutants known as aerosols now have a new tool at their disposal -- an instrument that automates the collection of air samples for analysis with sensitive ion chromatography equipment.  Fine-particulate aerosol","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2002-09-10 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:45","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2002-09-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2002-09-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=\u0022\u003EContact  \u003C\/a\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}