Monitoring air quality with a focus on ultrafine particulate matter (UFP)
Due to the increased interest in healthy air in cities, emission sources in the urban environment are increasingly coming into focus. A key scientific issue here is source attribution, including the traceability and understanding of measurement results.
In addition to the typical vehicles with combustion engines, these emission sources include the entire traffic area. For example, electrically powered vehicles with their non-exhaust emissions from tyres and brake abrasion as well as large stationary emission sources such as power plants are considered here. In addition to the urban environment, emissions from transport areas such as airports are also highly relevant in this context. However, monitoring these emissions requires specialised equipment and the ability to take measurements at different locations. This is where the institute's mobile laboratory can provide important information. The institute has already successfully carried out monitoring campaigns at various airports (including Copenhagen and Frankfurt). In all cases, it was possible to model the spread of emissions on the basis of the experimental measurement data.
The measurements that are possible with the mobile laboratory go beyond regular environmental monitoring. This is because the laboratory is also able to record quantities such as the number and exact size of ultrafine particles in the air (< 100 nm). The equipment in the mobile laboratory also makes it possible to differentiate between volatile and non-volatile particles, which are of particular interest to the aviation sector. Flexible customisation of the equipment used allows data to be recorded in a targeted manner over a period of several weeks. This can be valuable as a supplement to existing stations or for the preparation of long-term monitoring.