High-sensitivity instrument for measuring atmospheric NO2

We report on the development of a high-sensitivity detection system for measuring atmospheric NO2 using a laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) technique around 440 nm. A tunable broad-band optical parametric oscillator laser pumped by the third harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser is used as a fluorescence excitation source. The laser wavelength is tuned at peak and bottom wavelengths around 440 nm alternatively, and the difference signal at the two wavelengths is used to extract the NO2 concentration. This procedure can give a good selectivity for NO2 and avoid interferences of fluorescent or particulate species other than NO2 in the sample air. The NO2 instrument developed has a sensitivity of 30 pptv in 10 s and S/N = 2. The practical performance of the detection system is tested in the suburban area for 24 h. The intercomparisons between the LIF instrument and a photofragmentation chemiluminescence (PF-CL) instrument have been performed under laboratory conditions. The correlation between the two instruments is measured up to 1000 pptv. A good linear relationship between the LIF measurements and the PF-CL measurements is obtained.