Characterizing the performance of two optical particle counters (Grimm OPC1.108 and OPC1.109) under urban aerosol conditions

The performance of Grimm optical particle counters (OPC, models 1.108 and 1.109) was characterized under urban aerosol conditions. Number concentrations were well correlated. The different lower cut-off diameters (0.25 and 0.3 μm) give an average difference of 23.5%. Both detect less than 10% of the total particle concentration (0.01–1 μm; Differential Mobility Analyzer), but in the respective size ranges, differences are <10%. OPC number size distributions were converted to mass concentrations using instrument-specific factors given by the manufacturer. Mass concentrations for OPC1.108 were 60% higher than for OPC1.109 and (in case of OPC1.109) much lower than those measured with an impactor in the relevant size range or a TSP filter. Using the C-factor correction suggested by the manufacturer, OPC1.109 underestimated mass concentrations by 21% (impactor) and by about 36% (TSP filter), which is in the range of comparability of co-located different mass concentration methods (Hitzenberger, Berner, Maenhaut, Cafmeyer, Schwarz, & Mueller et al., 2004).