IMPROVE
PARTICULATE
MONITORING NETWORK
STANDARD
OPERATING PROCEDURES
Air
Quality Group
Crocker
Nuclear Laboratory
University
Of California, Davis
Davis,
CA 95616-8569
Introduction
This manual describes the standard operating procedures used in the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) particulate monitoring network.
The Federal Land Managers (National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service) are required by the Clean Air Act to protect visibility at designated Class I visibility areas. This is being accomplished through the IMPROVE program, which has representatives from these Federal Land Managers plus the Environmental Protection Agency and regional-state organizations.
The particulate monitoring portion of the IMPROVE program measures the concentration of the fine (PM2.5) particles for mass, optical absorption, major and trace elements, organic and elemental carbon, and nitrate and of PM10 particles for mass. All IMPROVE sites collect two samples per week, on Wednesday and Saturday. Other organizations participate in the IMPROVE network by using the same sampler and protocols.
The standard IMPROVE sampler has four sampling modules, listed below. Seventy-two particulate monitoring sites operated with IMPROVE samplers during 1996. One-quarter of the sites have a single Module A Teflon.
Module A: PM2.5 particles (0-2.5 5m) on Teflon. These are
analyzed by five methods at Davis:
Module B: PM2.5 particles (0-2.5 5m) on nylon. A denuder before the nylon filter removes nitric acid vapors. These are analyzed by are analyzed by ion chromatography (IC) at Research Triangle Institute for nitrate (NO3-), chloride (CL-), sulfate (BSO4), and nitrite (NO2-). The SOPs for this method are not included in this manual.
Module C: PM2.5 particles (0-2.5 5m) on quartz. These are analyzed by at Desert Research Institute for carbon using the Thermal Optical Reflectance (TOR) combustion method. A secondary filter at selected sites is used to determine artifact. These are reported in 8 temperature categories. The SOPs for this method are not included in this manual.
Module D: PM10 particles (0-10 5m) on Teflon. All are measured for PM10 mass. Approximately 4% are analyzed by the other four methods listed for Module A.
The Standard Operating Procedures deal with the following aspects of the IMPROVE monitoring operation:
SOP 101 Procurement and Acceptance Testing
TI 101A Filter Procurement and Acceptance Testing
TI 101B Sampler Construction and Testing
TI 101C Sampler Wiring Diagrams
TI 101D Filter Cassette Construction
SOP 151 Installation of Samplers.
TI 151A Installation of Controller Module
SOP 176 Calibration, Programming, and Site Documentation
TI 176A Calibration of Audit Devices Using Spirometer
TI 176B Final Flow Rate Audit Calculations
TI 176C Flow Rate Audits and Adjustment
SOP 201 Sampler Maintenance by Site Operators
TI 201A IMPROVE Aerosol Sampler Operations Manual
TI 201B Forms for Flow Audits by Site Operators
SOP 226 Annual Site Maintenance
SOP 276 Optical Absorption Analysis
SOP 301 X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis