Variation in Global Chemical Composition of PM2.5: Emerging Results from SPARTAN

Snider, G., C. L. Weagle, K. K. Murdymootoo, A. Ring, Y. Ritchie, E. Stone, A. Walsh, C. Akoshile, N. X. Anh, R. Balasubramanian, J. Brook, F. D. Qonitan, J. Dong, D. Griffith, K. He, B. N. Holben, R. Kahn, N. Lagrosas, P. Lestari, Z. Ma, A. Misra, L. K. Norford, E. J. Quel, A. Salam, B. Schichtel, L. Segev, S. Tripathi, C. Wang, C. Yu, Q. Zhang, Y. Zhang, M. Brauer, A. Cohen, M. D. Gibson, Y. Liu, J. V. Martins, Y. Rudich, and R. V. Martin.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 16, 9629-9653 DOI:10.5194/acp-16-9629-2016
2016

The Surface PARTiculate mAtter Network (SPARTAN) is a long-term project that includes characterization of chemical and physical attributes of aerosols from filter samples collected worldwide. This paper discusses the ongoing efforts of SPARTAN to define and quantify major ions and trace metals found in fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Our methods infer the spatial and temporal variability of PM2.5 in a cost-effective manner. Gravimetrically weighed filters represent multi-day averages of PM2.5, with a collocated nephelometer sampling air continuously. SPARTAN instruments are paired with AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) sun photometers to better understand the relationship between ground-level PM2.5 and columnar aerosol optical depth (AOD).

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