Measurement of atmospheric monoaromatic hydrocarbons using differential optical absorption spectroscopy: Comparison with on-line gas chromatography measurements in urban air

A Long Path DOAS system (GIST LP-DOAS) developed by GIST has been used to simultaneously measure atmospheric monoaromatic hydrocarbons (MAHC) and other trace compounds. The validity of GIST LP-DOAS in measuring atmospheric MAHC was tested over 740 m beam paths at an urban site in Seoul, Korea, during two field campaigns held in February 2003. In order to remove the effects of interfering compounds (such as oxygen, ozone, and sulfur dioxide), two oxygen optical density spectra at two path lengths and the reference spectra of sulfur dioxide and ozone were incorporated in the fitting procedure for the determination of MAHC. The mean concentrations of MAHC measured with LP-DOAS system during the measurement period were 0.77 (benzene), 3.68 (toluene), 0.41 (p-xylene), and 0.54 ppbv (m-xylene), respectively. The results of our LP-DOAS measurements were compared with those obtained by a collocated on-line Gas Chromatography (on-line GC) system. The concept of a percent difference (PD) and linear regression methods were employed to explain the bias structure between LP-DOAS and on-line GC. The results of this comparative analysis indicated that both systems exhibited strong compatibility with relatively good correlation. According to our correlation analysis between PD values and meteorological parameters, the compatibility between the two systems increased under the conditions of improved visibility and meteorological homogeneity (wind speed >1.3 ms−1). Based on our study, it is concluded that the LP-DOAS system can be used to provide reliable information on both mixing ratios and temporal distribution characteristics of MAHC in urban air.