Abstract
Primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) encompass many particle types that are derived from several biological kingdoms. These aerosol particles can be composed of both whole living units such as pollen, bacteria, and fungi, as well as from mechanically formed particles, such as plant debris. They constitute a significant proportion of the overall atmospheric particle load and have been linked with adverse health issues and climatic effects on the environment. Traditional methods for their analysis have focused on the direct capture of PBAP before subsequent laboratory analysis. These analysis types have generally relied on direct optical microscopy or incubation on agar plates, followed by time-consuming microbiological investigation. In an effort to address some of these deficits, real-time fluorescence monitors have come to prominence in the analysis of PBAP. These instruments offer significant advantages over traditional methods, including the measurement of concentrations, as well as the potential to simultaneously identify individual analyte particles in real-time. Due to the automated nature of these measurements, large data sets can be collected and analyzed with relative ease. This review seeks to highlight and discuss the extensive literature pertaining to the most commonly used commercially available real-time fluorescence monitors (WIBS, UV-APS and BioScout). It discusses the instruments operating principles, their limitations and advantages, and the various environments in which they have been deployed. The review provides a detailed examination of the ambient fluorescent aerosol particle concentration profiles that are obtained by these studies, along with the various strategies adopted by researchers to analyze the substantial data sets the instruments generate. Finally, a brief reflection is presented on the role that future instrumentation may provide in revolutionizing this area of atmospheric research.
Highlights
Aerosols constitute a significant portion of the Earth’s atmosphere
This review sought to illustrate the considerable body of work that has already been published in the area of real-time Primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) sensing by collating studies, which demonstrate the wide array of locations, applications, and potential uses for such instrumentation
As the efficiency and sophistication of such devices has increased in tandem with advances in the interpretation and analysis of the collected data, it is clear that real-time sensing of PBAP represents a significant pillar in the current edifice of PBAP evaluation methodologies
Summary
Aerosols constitute a significant portion of the Earth’s atmosphere. This ubiquity within the atmosphere results in substantial ecological, health, and climatic effects to the planet. The study of PBAP has recently undergone significant growth, with increasing research interest focused on determining the overall concentrations, as well as the identification of ambient species This increased effort stems from the ever accumulating evidence that certain biological particles are linked to detrimental health conditions [4]. While some modeling studies have pointed towards PBAP as being unimportant for ice nucleation on a global and annual scale, this may not be the case on regional and seasonal scales, especially if high levels of biological particles are present and other types of INPs are low [14,15,16] Based on these observations, real-time bioaerosol sensors have begun to be utilized in an attempt to identify the particular biological particles that are associated with ice nucleation within the atmosphere along with the meteorological conditions that enhance their propensity to induce ice nucleation. This work aims to collate the extensive work that is performed in this area, while highlighting avenues of exploration where more intense research effort may prove useful
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