1. Air Quality research Branch Meteorological Service of Canada
An Overview of Environment Canada’s Systematic PM Measurement Programs
Maris Lusis
Air Quality research Branch
Meteorological Service of Canada
EMEP Workshop on PM
April 20-23, 2004
I shall be devoting most of my talk to MSC’s program for PM measurements, which are made at regionally representative sites rather than urban sites, on the assumption that we are primarily interested in applications for regional-scale long range transport models.
However, I shall finish the talk with a brief description of PM measurements in Canada’s NAPS (National Air Pollution Surveillance) network, which is primarily an urban network. To do full justice to the NAPS program would require a talk in itself.

2. CORE Network Objectives
to provide long-term, high quality observations of atmospheric composition and radiation at locations representative of major atmospheric regimes (and geopolitical regions) across Canada
to serve as a national facility which maintains standards, provides expertise, serves as a reference network for monitoring and research studies of other jurisdictions and universities, and fulfils international monitoring commitments.
The most extensive PM measurements in MSC’s network are made at a special set of sites designated as CORE sites, which have the following objectives

3. CORE Network Alert [Eureka] Bratt’s Lake Kejimkujik St. Anicet
Saturna Island
CARE

4. Several of the CORE sites were already contributors to international programs researching chemical changes in the atmosphere.
For example, Alert is a global observatory in WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch Program

5. Current measurements at CORE sites
CAPMoN filter pack (all sites but Alert)
24 hour integrated filter samples (teflon, nylon, impregnated)
Analysed in lab for SO2, HNO3, and particulate chemistry (SO4, NO3,NH4…)
Most of the sites have a robust filter pack method in place to sample PM chemistry, which was developed as part of our CAPMoN network.
CAPMoN Air filter tower and Biotech sample head and filter pack
24 hour integrated filter samples. particulate Cl-, NO3-, SO4=, NH4+, Na+, K+, Ca++, Mg++,      gaseous HNO3 and SO2
Have been comparisons w other methods – CASTNeT, other open faced filter methods, some recent comparisons with scoping study with MOUDIS.

6. Current measurements at CORE sites
PM 2.5 and PM10 mass
R&P Partisol Dichotomous Sequential Sampler
Model 2025-D
(all sites but Alert)
R&P Partisol Plus Dichotomous Sequential Sampler
Model 2025-D
PM 2.5 and PM10

7. Current measurements at CORE sites
PM speciation (all sites but Alert)
R&P Partisol Model 2300 Speciation Sampler with
Chemcomb Cartridges
Ions in PM2.5 (SO4, NO3, NH4….)
Elemental and organic carbon in PM 2.5
Associated gases, measured by denuder (SO2, HNO3, NH3)
Rupprecht & Patashnick Co. (R&P)
Partisol Model 2300 Speciation Sampler
Uses Chemcomb Cartridges
PM ions, metals
Organics
Black carbon
Ammonia
Nitric acid

8. Current measurements at CORE sites
Aerosol optical depth (part of AEROCAN network)
(Saturna, Bratt’s Lake, CARE, Kejimkujik)
CIMEL sunphotometer
Several CORE sites also provide the infrastructure for aerosol optical depth measurements in the AEROCAN program.
University of Sherbrooke
CIMEL sunphotometer

9. Alert PM measurements - Canadian Baseline & Northern Contaminants Programs, & SEARCH
PM constituents (hivol)
Ions
Trace metals
POPs (88 PCB Congeners,46 Organochlorines,20 PAHs)
Black carbon (aethelometer & PSAP)
CPC
Multiwavelngth nephelometer
Impactor (to be installed in August)
The Canadian Baseline network has been making PM measurements (ions, trace metals) with a long historical record at Alert.
POPs measurements have also been made at Alert for more than a decade, as part of the Northern Contaminants program, which has also had other sites north of the Arctic Circle making POPs measurements, but not with the same length of historical record.
Recently, in collaboration with NOAA as part of theSEARCH program, a CNC monitor and impactor have been/ are to be installed at Alert, for long-term measurements
The Model 3010 CPC (Ogren) is a compact single-particle counting instrument used in a variety of applications requiring detection of particles 0.01 mm (10 nm) in diameter and larger.
Nephelometer (Willer Engineering) monitors the light scattering coefficients of the airborne particles, total and backward scattering coefficients time series at 450, 550 and 750 nm in two size ranges of 1 µm and 10 µm are measured.
Two impactors are placed in parallel to allow sizes of particles up to 1 µm and 10 µm. Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) and Nephelometer will be connected to these impactors and the flows will be switched in a manner so that acquisition software will be able to distinguish between 1 µm and 10 µm data.
From the measurements, the following parameters will be calculated:
1). Single scattering albedo at about 550 nm in two size ranges
2). Angstrom coefficient
3). Hemispheric backward scattering fraction in two size ranges

10. Chemical Species
Alert has a 20 year record of various trace metals and ionic composition of PM as sampled by hivols.

11. Alert: Sulphates in PM
Here is an example of the data for sulphates in PM.
The demise of the Soviet Union can be seen in this record – for example, decereasing incursions of air pollution from Siberia as the Soviet economy collapsed.
Incidentally, over the measurement record, during the wintertime when polluted airmasses from Eurasia and Siberia passed over Alert, average concentrations of aerosl-borne costituents at Alert were comparable to those at CARE in southern Ontario.

12. Some more examples from Alert

13. Seasonality in the black carbon measurements at Alert, 1989-2002.
Black carbon measurements have been made at Alert for the past 15 years using Aethalometers
Seasonality in the black carbon measurements at Alert,

14. PCB 31 Temperature Trend Seasonal Cycle
Here is an example of the POPs results from Alert: lower PCBs, such as PCB 31, basically show decreasing trends over the five years of monitoring, with estimated first-order half-lives ranging from ~3 to 20 yrs. Declining trends of these lower congeners probably reflect falling levels in source regions, as a result of long-range transport to Alert. There were no apparent trends for the higher chlorinated congeners (penta-substituted and above), except for PCB 180, in marked contrast to temperate studies (such as the Great Lakes sites which show decline for most PCB congeners monitored), indicating a lag time for decline between the Arctic and source regions.

15. PM measurements are made at a number of sites in the CAPMoN network, some of which are CORE sites and have been already described.
At sites other than the CORE sites, PM chemistry measurements are made with the CAPMoN filter pack
Network sites, October 2003

16. CAPMoN sites were selected to be regionally representative.
data is currently used for transboundary transport analyses, source-receptor relationship determination, model development and evaluation.
data is used for determination of background pollution levels and long term regional and continental trends.
CWS support (determination of transboundary and background influence).
CAPMoN was designed to deal with the transboundary transport of acid rain related substances.
The collection of data for transboundary transport analyses, source-receptor relationship determination, model development and evaluation still remain it’s primary function.

17. SO2 and SO4= Concentration Trends CAPMoN
CAPMoN filter pack data have been accumulated at some sites since 1980, and have been used for trends analyses and model evaluation purposes.

18. Over the next 2 years, we are planning to add real time PM2
Over the next 2 years, we are planning to add real time PM2.5 measurements at these CAPMoN sites, using both BAMs and TEOMs
Cold BAM with smart heater (cuts in when RH.45%)
TEOM-SES (with nafion dryer)

19. PM chemistry measurements are also made at three Canadian IADN sites, using hivols – Pt.Petrie, Egbert and Burnt Island.

20. IADN suite of chemicals in PM (measured using hivols): (PCBs)
Polycyclic aromatic compounds
(Organochlorine pesticides)
Trace Metals
Presently, the PM samples are not analysed for PCBs and organochlorine pesticides, because very little was found in the PM phase.

21. Looking into the future, we are hoping that the regional PM measurements program will be enhanced as a result of funding we are hoping for to contribute towards and Earth Observation System.
The Earth Observation Summit in July 2003 opened a rare opportunity for, we hope, long term stable funding enhancements for systematic measurement programs. Attendees at EOS, including Minister Anderson on behalf of the government of Canada, affirmed……

22. Enhancement of aerosol measurements at 4 existing sites – see next slide
Alert samples the Arctic Haze in the winter-spring due to transport from Eurasia. In the summertime, Alert samples the NH background aerosol.
Whistler samples free tropospheric aerosol entering Canada, and Asian dust and pollution transported across the Pacific
Fraserdale samples downwind of the Boreal forest, providing information on secondary particles from forest VOCs and primary particles from forest fires
As far as the PM component of our measurement program is concerned, a recommendation has been developed to enhance the Canadian program as follows.
Egbert samples aerosols in an agricultural setting, is downwind of both natural and industrial source areas

23. Measurements/Instrumentation
Routine
PILS
Organic Carbon
Light Absorption
Light Scattering
Size Distribution
Special
AMS

25. NAPS: PM2.5 Instruments in Canada (2004)
R&P TEOM Instrument (125)
Met-One BAM Instrument (37)
R&P Partisol Samplers family (35)
2025-D sequential dichotomous sampler
2000 single filter sampler
2025 sequential sampler
2300 speciation sampler

26. NAPS: PM2.5 Monitoring Sites in Canada (2003)

27. Partisol 2025-D Dichotomous Samplers in Canada - 2004
Existing Sites (20)
Future Sites (4)
Yellowknife
Edmonton
Elk Island
Flin Flon
Sydney
Vancouver
Saint-John
Québec City
Halifax
Calgary
Mtl-RDP
St-Andrews
Saskatoon
Victoria
Ottawa
Mtl-Ontario
Mtl-Chateuneuf
Winnipeg
Pt-Petre
Wallaceburg
Tor-Judson
Simcoe
Windsor

28. NAPS: PM2.5 Chemical Speciation Program
Started in January 2003
Instruments Used:
R&P Partisol 2300 Speciation PM 2.5 Sampler
Mass, nitrate, sulphate, ions, OC/EC, NH3
Collected on 3 cartidges
R&P Partisol 2025-D Sequential Dichotomous Sampler
Mass, metals, ions

29. PM2.5 Chemical Speciation Network
Existing Sites (6)
Future Sites (7)
Edmonton
Burnaby
Golden
Saint-John
Québec City
St-Andrews
Montréal
Abbotsford
St-Anicet
Toronto-Gage
Wallaceburg
Simcoe
Winsdor