Different instruments measure particles in different size bins. However, when reporting data, we usually summarize the measurement by 3-4 most common cutoffs.
Three for mass concentration:
PM1, µg/m3
PM2.5, µg/m3
PM10, µg/m3
Four for number concentration:
Particle number concentration <0.1 µm, #/cm3
Particle number concentration <1 µm, #/cm3
Particle number concentration <2.5 µm, #/cm3
Particle number concentration <10 µm, #/cm3
To make data contributors’ life easier, it will be great if we can accept their data in many size bins and do a many-to-one matching. For example, in the screenshot, all columns in the red box are “Particle number concentration <1 µm”. We can allow them to label all those columns as “Particle number concentration <1 µm”, and eventually store the sum across the columns in the database. The same applies to orange and green boxes, corresponding to “Particle number concentration <2.5 µm” and “Particle number concentration <10 µm”, respectively.
Different instruments measure particles in different size bins. However, when reporting data, we usually summarize the measurement by 3-4 most common cutoffs.
Three for mass concentration:
Four for number concentration:
To make data contributors’ life easier, it will be great if we can accept their data in many size bins and do a many-to-one matching. For example, in the screenshot, all columns in the red box are “Particle number concentration <1 µm”. We can allow them to label all those columns as “Particle number concentration <1 µm”, and eventually store the sum across the columns in the database. The same applies to orange and green boxes, corresponding to “Particle number concentration <2.5 µm” and “Particle number concentration <10 µm”, respectively.