Comparison of telephotometer measurements of extinction coefficients with scattering and absorption coefficients

During the summer of 1979, coefficients for light extinction in the atmosphere were calculated from measurements made with a telephotometer placed 251 m from a black target in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The results are well correlated ( r = 0.92–0.96) with integrating nephelometer measu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmospheric environment 1981, Vol.15 (12), p.2617-2624
Main Authors: Dzubay, T.G., Clubb, K.W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
aerosols
air quality
atmospheric conditions
light scattering
pollutant detection
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:During the summer of 1979, coefficients for light extinction in the atmosphere were calculated from measurements made with a telephotometer placed 251 m from a black target in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The results are well correlated ( r = 0.92–0.96) with integrating nephelometer measurements of scattering coefficients and are highly correlated ( r = 0.99) with daily arithmetic averages of sums of scattering and absorption coefficients. The average sum of scattering and absorption coefficients accounts for about 90% of the average telephotometrically measured extinction coefficient. Scattering by particles and scattering by air contribute 75 and 7% of the measured extinction coefficient; absorption by particles and absorption by nitrogen dioxide contribute 7 and 2%, respectively. From measurements of the aerosol mass and elemental composition, it is inferred that sulfate and its cations account for at least 54% of the mass of particles smaller than 2.5 μm in dia.
ISSN:0004-6981
1352-2310
DOI:10.1016/0004-6981(81)90083-4