The Reno Aerosol Optics Study (RAOS) was designed and conducted to compare the performance of many existing and new instruments for the in situ measurement of aerosol optical properties with a focus on the determination of aerosol light absorption. For this study, simple test aerosols of black and white particles were generated and combined in external mixtures under low relative humidity conditions and delivered to each measurement system. The aerosol mixing and delivery system was constantly monitored using particle counters and nephelometers to ensure that the same aerosol number concentration and amount reached the different instruments. The aerosol light-scattering measurements of four different nephelometers were compared, while the measurements of seven light-absorption instruments (5 filter based, 2 photoacoustic) were evaluated. Four methods for determining the aerosol light-extinction coefficient (3 cavity ring-down instruments and 1 folded-path optical extinction cell) were also included in the comparisons. An emphasis was placed on determining the representativeness of the filter-based light absorption methods, since these are used widely and because major corrections to the raw attenuation measurements are known to be required. The extinction measurement from the optical extinction cell was compared with the scattering measurement from a high-sensitivity integrating nephelometer on fine, nonabsorbing ammonium sulfate aerosols, and the two were found to agree closely (within 1% for blue and green wavelengths and 2% for red). The wavelength dependence of light absorption for small kerosene and diesel soot particles was found to be very near λ^{− 1}, the theoretical small-particle limit. Larger, irregularly shaped graphite particles showed widely variable wavelength dependencies over several graphite runs. The light-absorption efficiency at a wavelength of 530 nm for pure kerosene soot with a number size distribution peak near 0.3 μ m diameter was found to be 7.5 ± 1.2 m² g^{− 1}. The two most fundamental independent absorption methods used in this study were photoacoustic absorption and the difference between suspended-state light extinction and scattering, and these showed excellent agreement (typically within a few percent) on mixed black/white aerosols, with the photoacoustic measurement generally slightly lower. Excellent agreement was also observed between some filter-based light-absorption measurements and the RAOS reference absorption method. For atmospherically relevant levels of the aerosol light-absorption coefficient (< 25 Mm^{− 1}), the particle soot absorption photometer (PSAP) absorption measurement at mid-visible wavelengths agreed with the reference absorption measurement to within ∼ 11% for experiment tests on externally mixed kerosene soot and ammonium sulfate. At higher absorption levels (characterized by lower single-scattering albedo aerosol tests), this agreement worsened considerably, most likely due to an inadequate filter loading correction used for the PSAP. The PSAP manufacturer's filter loading correction appears to do an adequate job of correcting the PSAP absorption measurement at aerosol single-scattering albedos above 0.80–0.85, which represents most atmospheric aerosols, but it does a progressively worse job at lower single-scattering albedos. A new filter-based light-absorption photometer was also evaluated in RAOS, the multiangle absorption photometer (MAAP), which uses a two-stream radiative transfer model to determine the filter and aerosol scattering effects for a better calculation of the absorption coefficient. The MAAP absorption measurements agreed with the reference absorption measurements closely (linear regression slope of ∼ 0.99) for all experimental tests on externally mixed kerosene soot and ammonium sulfate.

Benzene is a proven carcinogen. Its synergistic action with other pollutants can damage different components of the biosphere. Literature comparing the air quality standards of benzene, its monitoring methods and global concentrations are sparse. This study compiles the worldwide available air quality standards for benzene and highlights the importance of strict and uniform standards all over the world. It was found that out of the 193 United Nation member states, only 53 countries, including the European Union member states, have ambient air quality standard for benzene. Even where standards were available, in most cases, they were not protective of public health. An extensive literature review was conducted to compile the available monitoring and analysis methods for benzene, and found that the most preferred method, i.e, analyzing by Gas Chromatography and Mass spectroscopy is not cost effective and not suitable for real-time continuous monitoring. The study compared the concentrations of benzene in the indoor and outdoor air reported from different countries. Though the higher concentrations of benzene noticed in the survey were mostly from Asian countries, both in the case of indoor and outdoor air, the concentrations were not statistically different across the various continents. Based on the analyzed data, the average benzene level in the ambient air of Asian countries (371 μg/m3) was approximately 3.5 times higher than the indoor benzene levels (111 μg/m3). Similarly, the outdoor to the indoor ratio of benzene level in European and North American Countries were found to be 1.2 and 7.7, respectively. This compilation will help the policymakers to include/revise the standards for benzene in future air quality guideline amendments.

An incoherent broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy setup employing a $20\mathrm{m}$ long optical cavity is described for sensitive in situ measurements of light extinction between 630 and $690\mathrm{nm}$. The setup was installed at the SAPHIR atmospheric simulation chamber during an intercomparison of instruments for nitrate (${\mathrm{NO}}_3$) radical detection. The long cavity was stable for the entire duration of the two week campaign. A detection limit of $\sim 2\mathrm{pptv}$ for ${\mathrm{NO}}_3$ in an acquisition time of $5\mathrm{s}$ was established during that time. In addition to monitoring ${\mathrm{NO}}_3$, nitrogen dioxide (${\mathrm{NO}}_2$) concentrations were simultaneously retrieved and compared against concurrent measurements by a chemiluminescence detector. Some results from the campaign are presented to demonstrate the performance of the instrument in an atmosphere containing water vapor and inorganic aerosol. The spectral analysis of ${\mathrm{NO}}_3$ and ${\mathrm{NO}}_2$, the concentration dependence of the water absorption cross sections, and the retrieval of aerosol extinction are discussed. The first deployment of the setup in the field is also briefly described.

An instrument employing cavity ring-down (CRD) and cavity-enhanced detection (CED) for the local measurement of aerosol extinction is described and demonstrated. CRD measures the lifetime of photons in a high-quality optical cavity and thereby determines the sum of sample extinction between the cavity mirrors and that due to mirror losses. CRD systems can be calibrated with a single gas for the determination of extinction. A green laser emitting subnanosecond pulses is used as a light source, facilitating measurements free from optical interference in the cavity. The addition of a low-frequency chopper allows for the determination of extinction coefficients with simple linear fitting procedures and also facilitates CED measurements by providing laser power modulation for phase-sensitive detection. CED measures the average power transmitted by the optical cavity. After calibration with two gases, CED allows for the independent measurement of extinction with very high dynamic range and for an independent comparison with CRD measurements, thereby increasing confidence in the measurements.

NO₂ concentrations were measured by various instruments during the NO3Comp campaign at the atmosphere simulation chamber SAPHIR at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany, in June 2007. Analytical methods included photolytic conversion with chemiluminescence (PC-CLD), broadband cavity ring-down spectroscopy (BBCRDS), pulsed cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS), incoherent broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (IBB\-CEAS), and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). All broadband absorption spectrometers were optimized for the detection of the main target species of the campaign, NO₃, but were also capable of detecting NO₂ simultaneously with reduced sensitivity. NO₂ mixing ratios in the chamber were within a range characteristic of polluted, urban conditions, with a maximum mixing ratio of approximately 75 ppbv. The overall agreement between measurements of all instruments was excellent. Linear fits of the combined data sets resulted in slopes that differ from unity only within the stated uncertainty of each instrument. Possible interferences from species such as water vapor and ozone were negligible under the experimental conditions.

The detection of atmospheric NO₃ radicals is still challenging owing to its low mixing ratios (≈ 1 to 300 pptv) in the troposphere. While long-path differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) has been a well-established NO₃ detection approach for over 25 yr, newly sensitive techniques have been developed in the past decade. This publication outlines the results of the first comprehensive intercomparison of seven instruments developed for the spectroscopic detection of tropospheric NO₃. Four instruments were based on cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS), two utilised open-path cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS), and one applied "classical" long-path DOAS. The intercomparison campaign "NO3Comp" was held at the atmosphere simulation chamber SAPHIR in Jülich (Germany) in June 2007. Twelve experiments were performed in the well-mixed chamber for variable concentrations of NO₃, N₂O₅, NO₂, hydrocarbons, and water vapour, in the absence and in the presence of inorganic or organic aerosol. The overall precision of the cavity instruments varied between 0.5 and 5 pptv for integration times of 1 s to 5 min; that of the DOAS instrument was 9 pptv for an acquisition time of 1 min. The NO₃ data of all instruments correlated excellently with the NOAA-CRDS instrument, which was selected as the common reference because of its superb sensitivity, high time resolution, and most comprehensive data coverage. The median of the coefficient of determination (r²) over all experiments of the campaign (60 correlations) is r² = 0.981 (quartile 1 (Q1): 0.949; quartile 3 (Q3): 0.994; min/max: 0.540/0.999). The linear regression analysis of the campaign data set yielded very small intercepts (median: 1.1 pptv; Q1/Q3: −1.1/2.6 pptv; min/max: −14.1/28.0 pptv), and the slopes of the regression lines were close to unity (median: 1.01; Q1/Q3: 0.92/1.10; min/max: 0.72/1.36). The deviation of individual regression slopes from unity was always within the combined accuracies of each instrument pair. The very good correspondence between the NO₃ measurements by all instruments for aerosol-free experiments indicates that the losses of NO₃ in the inlet of the instruments were determined reliably by the participants for the corresponding conditions. In the presence of inorganic or organic aerosol, however, differences in the measured NO₃ mixing ratios were detectable among the instruments. In individual experiments the discrepancies increased with time, pointing to additional NO₃ radical losses by aerosol deposited onto the filters or on the inlet walls of the instruments. Instruments using DOAS analyses showed no significant effect of aerosol on the detection of NO₃. No hint of a cross interference of NO₂ was found. The effect of non-Lambert–Beer behaviour of water vapour absorption lines on the accuracy of the NO₃ detection by broadband techniques was small and well controlled. The NO3Comp campaign demonstrated the high quality, reliability and robustness of performance of current state-of-the-art instrumentation for NO₃ detection.