Division of Air Quality Monitoring and Quality Assurance

Particulate Matter Monitoring Instruments

DEC uses filter‐based instruments to measure particulate pollution. These instruments draw air at a specified rate through a filter. The amount of particle matter that becomes trapped on the filter is measured in different ways depending on the type of instrument.

Some instruments, such as the HiVol and the Partisol, require that filters be weighed in a lab. Others, such as the BAM and eBAM, measure the particulate collected on the filter directly. The T640x uses scattered light spectrometry for measurement. Below are photos of some of these instruments.

Thermo Scientific Partisol

Thermo Scientific High Volume (HiVol) Air Sampler

eBAM (Environmental Beta Attenuation Monitor), Met One Instruments

BAM (Beta Attenuation Mass Monitor), Met One Instruments

T640x, Teledyne