Atmospheric aerosol characterisation by Ion Beam Analysis techniques: recent improvements at the Van de Graaff laboratory in Florence

At the KN3000 Van de Graaff accelerator in Florence, PIXE analysis of aerosol samples is routinely performed to measure the concentration of elements with Z > 10. In order to allow a complete reconstruction of the aerosol mass, recently we implemented the light element detection by means of in-vacuum Particle Elastic Scattering Analysis (PESA) with 3 MeV protons on particulate matter collected on Teflon filters. PESA with a surface barrier detector (SBD) at a forward angle of 30degrees was used to estimate the H content; another SBD was placed at 150degrees backward-angle to determine C, N and O concentrations. Results concerning PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 aerosol fractions, collected on a daily basis over some weeks in a small industrial town near Florence, will be shown. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.