Characterization of ambient aerosols at the San Francisco International Airport using bioaerosol mass spectrometry

Paul T. Steele; Erica L. McJimpsey; Keith R. Coffee; David P. Fergenson; Vincent J. Riot; Herbert J. Tobias; Bruce W. Woods; Eric E. Gard; Matthias Frank

doi:10.1117/12.665155

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19 May 2006 Characterization of ambient aerosols at the San Francisco International Airport using bioaerosol mass spectrometry

Paul T. Steele, Erica L. McJimpsey, Keith R. Coffee, David P. Fergenson, Vincent J. Riot, Herbert J. Tobias, Bruce W. Woods, Eric E. Gard, Matthias Frank

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Proceedings Volume 6218, Chemical and Biological Sensing VII; 62180A (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.665155
Event: Defense and Security Symposium, 2006, Orlando (Kissimmee), Florida, United States

Abstract

The BioAerosol Mass Spectrometry (BAMS) system is a rapidly fieldable, fully autonomous instrument that can perform correlated measurements of multiple orthogonal properties of individual aerosol particles. The BAMS front end uses optical techniques to nondestructively measure a particle's aerodynamic diameter and fluorescence properties. Fluorescence can be excited at 266nm or 355nm and is detected in two broad wavelength bands. Individual particles with appropriate size and fluorescence properties can then be analyzed more thoroughly in a dual-polarity time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Over the course of two deployments to the San Francisco International Airport, more than 6.5 million individual aerosol particles were fully analyzed by the system. Analysis of the resulting data has provided a number of important insights relevant to rapid bioaerosol detection, which are described here.

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Paul T. Steele, Erica L. McJimpsey, Keith R. Coffee, David P. Fergenson, Vincent J. Riot, Herbert J. Tobias, Bruce W. Woods, Eric E. Gard, and Matthias Frank "Characterization of ambient aerosols at the San Francisco International Airport using bioaerosol mass spectrometry", Proc. SPIE 6218, Chemical and Biological Sensing VII, 62180A (19 May 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.665155

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