Alpha excitation for monitoring aerosols in California

Accelerator-produced alpha particle beams are presently the most commonly used analytical tool for examining California's aerosols by size and elemental composition. The design of sampling methods compatible with both ion-excited x-rays emission and ion elastic scattering has allowed information to be obtained on the total spectrum of aerosol elemental composition, hydrogen through uranium, at up to 15 sites on a continuous basis. This allows comparison with gravimetric values obtained from more conventional aerosol sampling methods, while allowing detailed information to be generated on aerosol sources, transport, transformation, and sinks. This program has been able to be instituted largely because of the low cost per analysis (positive elemental identifications at approximately dollar 0.20 a piece) possible because of automation and large throughput of samples