Passive ammonia monitoring in the United States: Comparing three different sampling devices

Abstract

The need for ambient gaseous ammonia (NH₃) measurements has increased in the last decade as reactive NH₃ concentrations and deposition fluxes show little change even with tightening standards on nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emissions. Currently, there are several networks developing methods for adding NH₃ measurements in the U.S. Gaseous NH₃ measurements will provide scientists and policymakers data which can be used to estimate ecosystem inputs, validate air quality models including trends and regional variability, and evaluate changes to the environment based on additional emission reduction requirements and estimates of critical nitrogen load exceedances. The passive samplers described in this paper were deployed in duplicate or triplicate and collocated with annular denuders or continuous instruments to determine their accuracy. The samplers assessed included the Adapted Low-Cost Passive High Absorption (ALPHA), Radiello^®, and Ogawa passive samplers. The median relative percent differences (MRPD) between the reference method and passive samplers for the ALPHA, Radiello^® and Ogawa were −2.4%, −37% and −44%, respectively. The precision between duplicate samplers for the ALPHA and Ogawa samplers, was 7% and 6%, respectively. Triplicate Radiello^® precision was assessed using the coefficient of variation (CV). The CV for the Radiello^® samplers was 10%. This article discusses the statistical results from these studies.