TY - JOUR A1 - Pogány, A. A1 - Balslev-Harder, D. A1 - Braban, Ch. F. A1 - Cassidy, N. A1 - Ebert, V. A1 - Ferracci, V. A1 - Hieta, T. A1 - Leuenberger, D. A1 - Martin, N. A. A1 - Pascale, C. A1 - Peltola, J. A1 - Persijn, S. A1 - Tiebe, Carlo A1 - Twigg, M. M. A1 - Vaittinen, Olavi A1 - van Wijk, J. A1 - Wirtz, K. A1 - Niederhauser, B. T1 - A metrological approach to improve accuracy and reliability of ammonia measurements in ambient air N2 - The environmental impacts of ammonia (NH3) in ambient air have become more evident in the recent decades, leading to intensifying research in this field. A number of novel analytical techniques and monitoring instruments have been developed, and the quality and availability of reference gas mixtures used for the calibration of measuring instruments has also increased significantly. However, recent inter-comparison measurements show significant discrepancies, indicating that the majority of the newly developed devices and reference materials require further thorough validation. There is a clear need for more intensive metrological research focusing on quality assurance, intercomparability and validations. MetNH3 (Metrology for ammonia in ambient air) is a three-year project within the framework of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), which aims to bring metrological traceability to ambient ammonia measurements in the 0.5–500 nmol mol−1 amount fraction range. This is addressed by working in three areas: (1) improving accuracy and stability of static and dynamic reference gas mixtures, (2) developing an optical transfer standard and (3) establishing the link between high-accuracy metrological standards and field measurements. In this article we describe the concept, aims and first results of the project. KW - Ammonia in ambient air KW - Traceability KW - Reference gas standards KW - Optical transfer standard KW - Validation and testing infrastructure PY - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-0233/27/11/115012 SN - 0957-0233 VL - 27 IS - 11 SP - 115012 EP - 115026 PB - IOP Publishing Ltd. AN - OPUS4-39130 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -