What the facility does
Studies air quality, with a focus on how aerosol impacts human health and the environment.
Areas of expertise
The Southern Ontario Centre for Atmospheric Aerosol Research (SOCAAR) is a world-class centre for environmental research, comprised of exceptional people and state-of-the-art facilities. Their research is committed to innovative thinking and high-quality results, to produce a broad, transdisciplinary and actionable understanding of the origins, characteristics, environmental impact, and human health consequences of atmospheric aerosol.
Research services
- Air pollutant field measurement
- Modelling
- Data mining
- Advanced mass spectrometry
- Elemental analysis
Sectors of application
- Chemical industries
- Clean technology
- Energy
- Environmental technologies and related services
- Life sciences, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment
- Professional and technical services (including legal services, architecture, engineering)
- Transportation
- Utilities
Specialized labs and equipment
| Equipment | Function |
|---|---|
| TSI 3091 Fast Mobility Particle Spectrometer (FMPS) | Produces real-time particle size distribution measurements with one-second time resolution. |
| TSI 3090 Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer (EEPS) spectrometer | Measures the size distribution of engine-exhaust particle emissions in the range from 5.6 to 560 nm at 10 samples per second. |
| TSI Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) | Measures aerosol concentration as a function of particle size, using bipolar charge distribution and differential mobility analysis methods. |
| TSI 3321 Aerodynamic Particle Spectrometer (APS) | Provides high-resolution, real-time measurements of aerosols ranging in size from 0.5 to 20 µm and simultaneously measures the light-scattering of aerosols, which can be utilized when studying aerosol composition. |
| Thermo 1400 Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM) with 8500 Filter Dynamics Measurement System (TEOM-FDMS) | Measures PM2.5 mass concentrations continuously. |
| Thermo 5030 Synchronized Hybrid Ambient Real-time Particulate Monitor (SHARP) | Hybrid nephelometric/radiometric PM2.5 mass monitor. Incorporates a high sensitivity light-scattering photometer. |
| P-Trak Ultrafine Particle Counter | Portable instrument used to detect and measure the real-time number concentration (particles/cm3) of ultrafine particles (UFP) with diameters below 0.1 μm. Equipped with a data logger, and is particularly useful for determining indoor sources of UFP. |
| DustTrak Aerosol Monitor | Portable instrument used to provide-real time measurements of PM10, PM¬2.5 or PM1.0. Utilizes a battery-operated laser photometer to determine aerosol concentration (mg/m3), which can be stored using the instrument’s data logging option. |
| Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM) Series 1400a Ambient Particulate Monitor | Uses a filter-based system to continuously monitor the concentration of particulate matter. An inertial balance correlates changes in the oscillating frequency of the tapered element to aerosol concentration. Capable of measuring PM10, PM¬2.5, PM1.0, or Total Suspended Particles (TSP). |
| TSI 3800 Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ATOFMS) | Measures the size and chemical components within individual aerosol particles ranging in size between 30nm and 10μm in near real-time on a continuous basis. |
| Sunset thermal-optical semi-continuous OC/EC analyzer | Provides a semi-continuous analysis of aerosol organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) concentration with a sampling time ranging from 6 to 12 minutes. The OC/EC preferentially volatilizes OC and EC collected on quartz-fiber filters, oxidizing each species to determine their respective concentrations. |
| DMT Photoacoustic Soot Spectrometer (PASS) | Measures the optical absorption and scattering coefficient of particles using a photo acoustic technique. The absorption coefficient can be converted to black carbon mass based on the assumption of black carbon mass absorption coefficient. |
| AE-21 Aethalometer | Dual-channel aethalometer capable of indirectly measuring the concentration of aerosol black carbon (elemental carbon) in near-real-time. The time resolution is user-specified, ranging from one hour to one minute. Relies on the optical absorption of elemental carbon at 880 nm in the infrared range, and 370 nm in the ultraviolet range to determine the associated mass concentration in a sample. |
| Aerodyne Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM) | Measures aerosol mass and chemical composition of non-refractory submicron aerosol particles (i.e. ammonium, nitrate, sulphate, organics, and chloride) in real-time (up to 15 min). Designed and built on the same technology as Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS), combining an aerodynamic particle focusing lens (~40-1000 nm) with high vacuum thermal particle vaporization and mass spectrometry. |
| Gas/Particle Ion Chromatograph (GPIC) | Semi-continuously measures water-soluble inorganic particles and gases using ion chromatography and conductivity detection methods. Can be configured to measure either aerosols, gases, or both species simultaneously. Subdivided into two systems that independently collect and analyze particulate matter and gases - each on separate channels, and both with a 15-minute time resolution. Aerosol species of interest include SO42-, NO3-, NO2-, Cl-, and NH4+. Gaseous species measured by the GPIC include SO2, HNO3, HCl, HNO2, and NH3. |
| Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) | Non-intrusive instrument capable of measuring aerosol chemical composition, can also monitor chemical composition as a function of particle size for particles ranging in size from 50 to 700 nm. Particle time-of-flight measurements are used to determine the size of aerosols, while time-of-flight mass spectrometry is used to determine their composition with a time resolution as high as one second. |
| Proton-Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS) | Provides real-time concentration measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with a detection limit in the parts-per- trillion range, and an instrument response time of less than 100 milliseconds. |
| Xact 625 monitoring system | X-ray based platform capable of continuously and simultaneously measuring up to 24 metals found in ambient air. Uses reel-to-reel (RTR) filter tape sampling and nondestructive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis to monitor metals in ambient particulate matter. |
| Mobile Analysis of ParticuLate in the Environment (MAPLE) | Mobile sampling vehicle capable of measuring the spatial and temporal variations of ambient aerosol characteristics. Studies atmospheric processes, map concentration distributions of aerosols, and determines the composition of emission sources and their influence on local and regional air quality. |
Private and public sector research partners
- Environment Canada
- NETCARE (Network on Climate and Aerosols: Addressing Key Uncertainties in Remote Canadian Environments)
- Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
- AllerGen NCE Inc.
- Health Canada