Improving the signal-to-noise ratio of Faraday cup aerosol electrometer based aerosol instrument calibrations

Abstract

This study introduces a new bipolar measurement routine for particle number concentration calibrations. In the new routine, singly-charged particles of opposite polarities are measured sequentially with a Faraday cup aerosol electrometer (FCAE). We compared the bipolar routine to the traditional FCAE routine, where particle signal and electrometer offset are measured in turns, by calibrating a single CPC on a wide particle number concentration range (from 1000 to 77,000 cm-3) with both routines. By increasing the signal-to-noise ratio, the bipolar routine decreases the type A uncertainty of the calibration especially at low particle concentrations. In practice, the new routine enables shortening the measurement times by 80% at the lowest particle concentrations which, in practice, corresponds to hours.