Standard Operating Procedures and Measurement Guidelines for ACTRIS in situ aerosol particle variables

Below is a list of measurement guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs) used for aerosol in situ measurements within ACTRIS. The SOPs provides guidelines for good measurement practice. The methodologies, guidelines and SOPs are also recommended within EMEP, and GAW.  SOPs and recommendations within EMEP for other variables not included in ACTRIS is available from the EMEP-CCC and the EBAS data submission site

Component	Category	Description	Access to documents and reports
All, or most	General guidelines	Guidelines on inlet design for different ambient environments and station settings.	GAW-WCCAP recommendations for aerosol inlets and sampling
All, or most	General guidelines	The station audit check list highlights the points most critical for station operation concerning data quality assurance.	Station audit check list for atmospheric aerosol property observations
All, or most	General guidelines	Guidelines on conditioning and drying the aerosol sample depending on ambient temperature.	GAW - WCCAP recommendation for aerosol drying
All, or most	General guidelines	Relevant for most aerosol variables, current WMO/GAW Aerosol Measurement procedures, guidelines and recommendations published in 2016.	GAW report No. 227
Cloud condensation nuclei number concentration	SOP	Standard operating procedure for operating ACTRIS cloud condensation nucleus counters	ACTRIS protocol and measurement guidelines on cloud condensation nuclei number concentration
Particle light absorption coefficient	Measurement guidelines	Reference publication for data processing and quality assurance for the Thermo 5012 Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer (MAAP), including instructions on how to convert the equivalent black carbon concentration reported by the instrument to the property act	Multi-angle absorption photometry—a new method for the measurement of aerosol light absorption and atmospheric black carbon
Particle light absorption coefficient	Terminology and/or theory	ACTRIS and GAW recommended terminology to clarify the terms used for black carbon in atmospheric research, with the goal of establishing unambiguous links between terms, targeted material properties and associated measurement techniques.	Recommendations for reporting "black carbon" measurements,
Particle light absorption coefficient	Measurement guidelines	Comment on the publication for the Radiance Research Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP). The article includes an important update to the correction for cross-sensitivity to particle scattering. This article is to be used together with Bond et al. 1999.	Comment on “Calibration and Intercomparison of Filter-Based Measurements of Visible Light Absorption by Aerosols”
Particle light absorption coefficient	SOP	WMO/GAW Standard Operating Procedures for In-situ Measurements of Aerosol Mass Concentration, Light Scattering and Light Absorption. The report contains one chapter each on operation procedures, quality assurance, and data handling for the Radiance Research Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) and the Thermo 5012 Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer (MAAP).	GAW report No. 200
Particle light absorption coefficient	Measurement guidelines	The “dual-spot” Aethalometer: an improved measurement of aerosol black carbon with real-time loading compensation. WCCAP-recommended publication	The “dual-spot” Aethalometer: improved measurement with real-time loading compensation,
Particle light absorption coefficient	Intercomparison	Results from 2 intercomparison workshops on instruments measuring the aerosol absorption coefficient, including the Radiance Research Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP), the Thermo 5012 Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer (MAAP), and the Magee Scientific Aethalometer	Characterization and intercomparison of aerosol absorption photometers: result of two intercomparison workshops
Particle light scattering coefficient	SOP	Peer-reviewed standard Operating Procedure for TSI 3563 integrating nephelometer.	Performance Characteristics of a High-Sensitivity, Three-Wavelength, Total Scatter/Backscatter Nephelometer
Particle light scattering coefficient	SOP	Standard Operating Procedure for TSI 3563 integrating nephelometer, part 2, including formulas for correcting instrument artefacts through angular truncation.	Determining Aerosol Radiative Properties Using the TSI 3563 Integrating Nephelometer
Particle light scattering coefficient	Intercomparison	Performance comparison between the ECOTECH Aurora 3000 and the TSI 3563 integrating nephelometers, including a procedure for correcting instrument artefacts through angular truncation for the ECOTECH Aurora 3000.	Design and performance of a three-wavelength LED-based total scatter and backscatter integrating nephelometer
Particle light scattering coefficient	SOP	WMO/GAW Standard Operating Procedures for In-situ Measurements of Aerosol Mass Concentration, Light Scattering and Light Absorption. The report contains one chapter each on operation procedures, quality assurance, and data handling.	GAW report No. 200
Particle light scattering coefficient	Measurement guidelines	ACTRIS-WCCAP recommendation for measurements with Ecotech integrating nephelometer - Part I: How to set up the instrument for light scattering measurements	ACTRIS-WCCAP recommendation for measurements with Ecotech integrating nephelometer - Part I
Particle light scattering coefficient	Measurement guidelines	ACTRIS-WCCAP recommendation for measurements with Ecotech integrating nephelometer - Part II Standard Operation Procedure	ACTRIS-WCCAP recommendation for measurements with Ecotech integrating nephelometer - Part II
Particle light scattering coefficient	Intercomparison	Early intercomparison exercise for integrating nephelometers.	Intercomparisons and Aerosol Calibrations of 12 Commercial Integrating Nephelometers of Three Manufacturers
Particle light scattering coefficient	Intercomparison	Another intercomparison exercise for integrating nephelometers.	Angular Illumination and Truncation of Three Different Integrating Nephelometers: Implications for Empirical, Size-Based Corrections
Particle Number Concentration	Measurement guidelines	A detailed characterisation of the latest generation butanol- and water-based TSI condensation particle counters.	Particle counting efficiencies of new TSI condensation particle counters
Particle Number Concentration	SOP	CEN standard defining the procedure for measuring the concentration of aerosol particles in ambient air.	Ambient air - Determination of the particle number concentration of atmospheric aerosol
Particle Number Concentration	Measurement guidelines	WMO/GAW Aerosol Measurement procedures, guidelines and recommendations including an introduction chapter on measuring the particle number concentration	GAW report No. 227
Particle Number Size Distribution - fine mode	Measurement guidelines	The most authoritative peer-reviewed resource on design, sampling, operation, and data reporting for particle mobility size spectrometers.	Mobility particle size spectrometers: harmonization of technical standards and data structure to facilitate high quality long-term observations of atmospheric particle number size distributions
Particle Number Size Distribution - fine mode	Measurement guidelines	WMO/GAW Aerosol Measurement procedures, guidelines and recommendations including an introduction chapter on measuring the particle number size distribution	GAW report No. 227
Particle Number Size Distribution - fine mode	Measurement guidelines	How to design an instrument for measuring the electrical mobility particle number size distribution.	GAW - WCCAP recommendation mobility particle size spectrometer: Part I recommended instrument set-up
Particle Number Size Distribution - fine mode	Measurement guidelines	How to correct for diffusion losses when analysing data from particle mobility size spectrometers.	GAW - WCCAP recommendation mobility particle size spectrometers - Part II recommended particle loss correction
Particle Number Size Distribution - fine mode	Measurement guidelines	Essential aspects for assuring the continued data quality when operating a mobility size spectrometer.	GAW – WCCAP recommendation mobility particle size spectrometers - Part III Standard Operation Procedure
Particle Number Size Distribution - fine mode	Terminology and/or theory	The theory behind particle mobility size spectrometers.	GAW – WCCAP recommendation mobility particle size spectrometers - Part IV Constants and Relevant Equations
Particle Number Size Distribution - coarse mode	Measurement guidelines	Relevant for most aerosol variables, current WMO/GAW Aerosol Measurement procedures, guidelines and recommendations, including an introduction chapter on measuring the particle number size distribution.	GAW report No. 227
Particle Number Size Distribution - coarse mode	SOP	Standard operating procedure for measuring particle size number distributions with Aerodynamic and optical particle size spectrometers	ACTRIS protocol and measurement guidelines on coarse mode Particle Number Size Distribution
Particle Number Size Distribution - coarse mode	Intercomparison	ACTRIS intercomparison study with focus on flow rates, particle sing, and unit-to-unit variability of the particle number size distribution, Pfeifer et al. AMT (2016)	Intercomparison of 15 aerodynamic particle size spectrometers: uncertainties in particle sizing and number size distribution
Particulate OC/EC mass concentrations	Measurement guidelines	EUSAAR protocol: Guidelines on taking and analysing aerosol samples for measuring the organic and elemental carbon mass concentrations (OC/EC) by thermal-optical analysis using the European EUSAAR protocol. Used on top of EMEP manual (v 2014). See also European standard for measuring OC and EC deposited on filters (EN 16909)  for more details and description.	Toward a standardised thermal-optical protocol for measuring atmospheric organic and elemental carbon Link to CEN document EN-16909
Particulate tracers	SOP	Standard operating procedure for measuring the concentration of organic tracers in particulate matter at ACTRIS stations	Standardization of the sampling and analysis of specific organic tracers
Particulate chemical composition	SOP	Standard operating procedure for measuring the aerosol particle chemical speciation by mass spectrometry	ACTRIS report on Development of measurement standardization and data submission protocol for aerosol particle mass spectroscopy based on Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM) products