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NARSTO EPA Supersite (SS) Houston, Rapid Single-Particle Mass Spectrometer (SPMS) Data

Metadata Updated: December 7, 2023

NARSTO_EPA_SS_HOUSTON_RAPID_SPMS_DATA is the North American Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone (NARSTO) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Supersite (SS) Houston, Rapid Single-Particle Mass Spectrometer Data. This product contains individual aerosol particles which were sized and analyzed using a Rapid Single-particle Mass Spectrometer (RSMS) in Houston during the summer of 2000. RSMS aerodynamically focuses one particle size at a time to the source region of a mass spectrometer and employs a 193 nm excimer laser to desorb and ionize the particle components. The ions are analyzed in a single time-of-flight mass spectrometer and the spectrum is digitally recorded. Spectra are only saved if the ion peak in the spectrum is above a threshold level. Background spectra were determined and flagged. Particle size scans were initiated periodically, and each size was sampled until 30 particle hits were obtained, unless the sampling time became excessive. Aerodynamic particle sizes ranged from about 40 to 1300 nm and were partitioned into nine discrete size classes logarithmically spaced, roughly, over the range.

Single particle data are valuable because they: - are collected and analyzed real time so have excellent temporal resolution, - enable assessment of particle-to-particle composition variations (external mixing properties), - allow for easy identification of key particle sources since the particles retain source characteristics.

The data resulting from these measurements consisted of an aerodynamic particle size and a positive mass spectrum of the components for each particle, along with the date and time of measurement and other incidental measurement parameters such as the laser pulse energy. Support for RSMS measurements was provided by the EPA Supersite program and additional funding from the EPA. The Houston Supersite is one of several Supersites that was established in urban areas within the United States by the EPA to better understand the measurement, sources, and health effects of suspended particulate matter (PM). The overall goals were to characterize the composition and identify the sources of PM in Southeastern Texas, to develop and test new methods for characterizing fine PM, and to collect data on the physical and chemical characterization of fine PM that can be used to support exposure and health effects studies.

NARSTO, which has since disbanded, was a public/private partnership, whose membership spanned across government, utilities, industry, and academe throughout Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The primary mission was to coordinate and enhance policy-relevant scientific research and assessment of tropospheric pollution behavior; activities provide input for science-based decision-making and determination of workable, efficient, and effective strategies for local and regional air-pollution management. Data products from local, regional, and international monitoring and research programs are still available.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date December 1, 2022
Metadata Updated Date December 7, 2023

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date December 1, 2022
Metadata Updated Date December 7, 2023
Publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
Maintainer
Identifier C2324344348-LARC_ASDC
Data First Published 2004-01-15
Language en-US
Data Last Modified 2018-04-18
Category NARSTO, geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://data.nasa.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Citation 2003-04-14. Archived by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Government, NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC. https://doi.org/10.5067/ASDCDAAC/NARSTO/0042.
Harvest Object Id 64f0c791-f2eb-449b-b98c-1943f6a19a14
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL https://doi.org/10.5067/ASDCDAAC/NARSTO/0042
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial 29.76 -95.18
Program Code 026:001
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash b62fdd85699b0aeeba4a2c11a86e4b53a85ce38bc2560f6d158c627a1b00075f
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial
Temporal 1999-08-25T00:00:00Z/2000-08-31T23:59:59.999Z

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