Instruments

Every instrument the laboratory owns, and the students who run them.

Run by the people learning on it

Students run the equipment themselves, changing samplers and weighing filters, which is why they are in most of these photographs.

The laboratory services and re-checks its equipment regularly, with help from collaborators in the United States, Europe and China.

7 of the 35 instruments report to international networks, including AERONET and the Pandonia Global Network, both coordinated by NASA, and SPARTAN. Each network sets strict procedures, so our readings can be compared with sites around the world.

The collection

Network instruments first, then field samplers, then bench equipment.

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  AERONET, NASA

  Cimel Electronique CE318

  Recorded in the inventory as "AERONET Sunphotometer"

  Sun-sky-lunar scanning radiometer. Measures aerosol optical depth and column aerosol properties, and is the laboratory's AERONET instrument.

  ResearchAerosol optical properties and remote sensing

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  Pandonia Global Network, NASA

  Pandora spectrometer

  A spectrometer pointed at the sun and the sky. It measures the whole column of trace gases overhead.

  ResearchAerosol optical properties and remote sensing

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  SPARTAN

  AirPhoton

  Part of SPARTAN, a global network of ground samplers that satellite estimates of PM2.5 are checked against.

  ResearchAerosol optical properties and remote sensing

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  Black carbon source determination, Sida and Stockholm University

  Aethalometer

  2 held

  Measures how strongly air absorbs light at several wavelengths at once. Black carbon and brown carbon absorb differently across the spectrum, so the two can be separated.

  ResearchCarbonaceous aerosols: black carbon and brown carbon

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  Hi-ASAP, Academia Sinica

  Academia Sinica AS-LUNG-P

  Recorded in the inventory as "AS-LUNG portable sensors"

  Portable personal-exposure sampler logging PM1.0, PM2.5 and PM10 with GPS, carbon dioxide, temperature and humidity.

  ResearchLow-cost sensor networks, data science and forecasting

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  Hi-ASAP, Academia Sinica

  Academia Sinica AS-LUNG-O

  Recorded in the inventory as "AS-LUNG outdoor sensors"

  A research-grade low-cost PM2.5 sensor built by Academia Sinica, Taiwan, for long-term outdoor monitoring. It logs PM2.5, temperature and humidity to a card, sends its readings wirelessly, and runs off its own solar panel.

  ResearchLow-cost sensor networks, data science and forecasting

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  Apex Instruments Isokinetic Source Sampling System

  Recorded in the inventory as "Stack emission sampler"

  Samples flue gas from a chimney at the speed the gas is already moving. Sample faster and you over-collect the heavy particles; slower and you over-collect the light ones.

  ResearchSource apportionment and emission sources

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  DIGITEL high-volume sampler

  A Swiss high-volume filter sampler. Air is drawn fast through a size-selective PM inlet onto a large filter, which is weighed and then analysed for what the particles are made of.

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  SIBATA HV-RW

  Recorded in the inventory as "High-volume air sampler"

  Pulls a large volume of air through a filter. More air means more material to weigh, and a smaller concentration that can still be measured.

  ResearchUrban and indoor air quality in Dhaka

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  Envirotech APM 550

  Recorded in the inventory as "PM2.5 low-volume air sampler"

  Low-volume gravimetric PM2.5 filter sampling, at 16.7 litres a minute.

  ResearchUrban and indoor air quality in Dhaka

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  Dual-channel dust sampler

  Simultaneous PM2.5 and PM10 gravimetric sampling on two channels, for indoor and outdoor air.

  ResearchUrban and indoor air quality in Dhaka

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  Mini-volume portable air sampler

  Small, battery-powered, and made to be carried to a site with no mains electricity.

  ResearchUrban and indoor air quality in Dhaka

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  SKC AirChek 2000

  Recorded in the inventory as "SKC AirChek 2000 personal sampling pump"

  A personal sampling pump, worn on the body. It pulls air through a filter or tube at a steady, programmed flow for a full working day, so the sample is what one person actually breathed.

  ResearchUrban and indoor air quality in Dhaka

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  SIBATA personal sampling pump with impactor

  A compact SIBATA sampling pump, photographed with the small impactor that cuts the air stream to a particle size before it reaches the filter.

  ResearchUrban and indoor air quality in Dhaka

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  Met One Instruments GT-526S

  Recorded in the inventory as "Met One GT-526S handheld particle counter"

  A handheld particle counter. It draws air past a laser and reports PM1.0, PM2.5, PM4.0, PM10 and TSP on the spot, with no filter to weigh afterwards.

  ResearchUrban and indoor air quality in Dhaka · Personal exposure of particulate matter (PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10) in different microenvironments in Dhaka city and correlation to various health parameters (Blood Pressure, Peak Flow Rate, Oxygen Saturation)

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  Aeroqual Series 500 (S-500)

  Recorded in the inventory as "Aeroqual sensors (NO2, SO2, VOC, CO2, CH4, NH3, O3)"

  Handheld modular gas monitors, with sensor heads for NO2, SO2, VOC, CO2, CH4, NH3 and O3.

  ResearchUrban and indoor air quality in Dhaka

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  Origins Laser Egg

  Recorded in the inventory as "Origins Laser Egg air quality monitor"

  A laser-scattering monitor that reports PM2.5 continuously. Cheap enough to place in many locations at once, though its readings need correcting against a reference instrument.

  ResearchLow-cost sensor networks, data science and forecasting

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  IGERESS 7-in-1

  Recorded in the inventory as "IGERESS 7-in-1 indoor air quality monitor"

  A small indoor monitor for total volatile organic compounds, PM10 and PM2.5. A survey instrument rather than a reference one.

  ResearchUrban and indoor air quality in Dhaka

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  Euromex Oxion Inverso

  Recorded in the inventory as "Microscope"

  Inverted fluorescence microscope, for filter and bioaerosol sample inspection.

  ResearchBioaerosols and airborne antimicrobial resistance

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  Four-digit analytical balance

  2 held

  Reads to a tenth of a milligram. A filter is weighed before it goes out and again when it comes back, and the difference is the measurement.

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  Muffle furnace

  Holds a sample at a set temperature in air. Filters are fired before use to burn off whatever was on them already.

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  Digital hot plate

  A large digital hot plate that holds dozens of beakers at once. Samples are digested in acid on it: the step before their metal content can be measured.

  ResearchTrace and heavy metals in airborne particulate matter

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  Autoclave

  Sterilises glassware and growth media with pressurised steam.

  ResearchBioaerosols and airborne antimicrobial resistance

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  Ultrasonic sonicator

  An ultrasonic bath. The sound shakes particles off a filter and into solution.

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  Shaking water bath

  2 held

  A water bath that holds a temperature and shakes whatever is standing in it.

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  Digital pH meter

  Measures the acidity of a solution through a glass electrode.

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  Labindia Pico

  Recorded in the inventory as "Conductivity meter"

  Measures how well a solution conducts electricity, which follows the ions dissolved in it.

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  Peak flow meter

  This one measures a person rather than the air. It records how fast somebody can blow out.

  ResearchPersonal exposure of particulate matter (PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10) in different microenvironments in Dhaka city and correlation to various health parameters (Blood Pressure, Peak Flow Rate, Oxygen Saturation)

Beyond our own instruments, we also use ICP-MS, SEM, TEM, XRD, GC-MS and FTIR through collaboration with other departments and institutions, thanks to the laboratory’s standing and its close links with other research laboratories.