Air Pollution Monitoring by Advanced Spectroscopic Techniques
A variety of spectroscopic methods are being used to detect air pollutants in the gas phase
J. A. Hodgeson 1,
W. A. McClenny 2, and
P. L. Hanst 2
1 Monitoring Systems Research and Development Division, National Environmental Research Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Post Office Box 15027, Las Vegas, Nevada 89114
2 Chemistry and Physics Laboratory, National Environmental Research Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711
The monitoring requirements related to air pollution are many and varied. The molecules of concern differ greatly in their chemical and physical properties, in the nature of their environment, and in their concentration ranges. Furthermore, the application may have specific requirements such as rapid response time, ultrasensitivity, multipollutant capability, or capability for remote measurements. For these reasons, no single spectroscopic technique appears to offer a panacea for all monitoring needs. Instead we have attempted to demonstrate in the above discussion that, regardless of the difficulty and complexity of the monitoring problems, spectroscopy offers many tools by which such problems may be solved.
