Instrument Characterization and First Application of the Single Particle Analysis and Sizing System (SPASS) for Atmospheric Aerosols
We describe here the instrumental setup and first experiments with the mobile single particle analysis and sizing system (SPASS) for the on-line characterization of single atmospheric aerosol particles. Aerosols are introduced into the SPASS via a differentially pumped particle inlet system using an aerodynamic lens that forms a narrow particle beam. The particles are sized with a two-laser velocimeter and subsequently desorbed and ionized with a high-power pulsed Nd:YAG laser operating at 266 nm. Positive and negative ions formed are simultaneously detected in a bipolar time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Thus, the size and chemical composition of single aerosol particles can be characterize…
Comparative parallel characterization of particle populations with two mass spectrometric systems LAMPAS 2 and SPASS
Abstract Two transportable laser mass spectrometers, Single Particle Analysis and Sizing System (SPASS) and Laser Mass Analyzer for Particles in the Airborne State (LAMPAS 2), have been applied to investigate the dependence of spectra patterns on instrumental parameters and data evaluation procedures in an inter-comparison experiment. Laboratory experiments showed the spectral response of both instruments for mineral particles before and after heterogeneous reactions. During a period of 47 h, both instruments determined size and chemical composition of several thousand single particles of an ambient particle population. Time-resolved evaluation (1-h resolution) of specific ion signals, whic…