MRI: Acquisition of a High Resolution Proton-Transfer-Reaction Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS) for Research in Land And Atmospheric Science

This project, part of the NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program, supports the acquisition of a new instrument at the University of Minnesota (UMN) - Twin Cities for making highly accurate measurements of organic compounds in the atmosphere. The instrument will be used both in the field and in the laboratory. Field sites where data will be collected include the UMN Tall Tower Observatory and the PROPHET tower at the University of Michigan Biological Station. Newly acquired data from the instrument will be used to improve scientific understanding of the biogeochemistry of organic carbon in the land-atmosphere system, with an emphasis on atmospheric composition, land-atmosphere coupling, and the processes driving air pollution and global change.

The instrument, a Proton-Transfer-Reaction Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS), will be used to address important scientific issues including:

(1) Land-atmosphere carbon exchange and volatile organic compounds (VOCs); (2) Chemical properties and aging of gas-phase organics; (3) Organic gas-aerosol interactions; and (4) Organic carbon biogeochemistry in soils. The instrument will also support the education of graduate and undergraduate students in Land and Atmospheric Science (LAAS) Program at the University of Minnesota.