Fast Response Sensor for the Measurement of the Optical Properties and Carbon Content of Organic Aerosols

Droplet Measurement Technologies, Inc. proposes to demonstrate the viability of a newtechnique for measuring carbon mass on a particle-by-particle basis. The methodologyutilizes a combination of light scattering and emission to differentiate carbonaerosolsfrom other types of particles and quantify the mass of these particles overa size range from 0.05 micrometers to greater than 5 micrometers. The technique willmeasure carbon mass with three orders of magnitude greater sensitivity and responsetime thancurrently available measurement techniques. The proposed measurement technique will have applications in the areas of air qualityresearch and monitoring, combustion research, health studies, and climate changeresearch. The high sensitivity and fastresponse time will make the technique idealfor atmospheric studies of how soot impacts health, air quality and climate in urban,tropospheric and stratospheric environments.