ToF-AMS Main

The Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (ToF-AMS) is a second generation instrument for the real-time measurement of size-resolved aerosol chemical composition. The ToF-AMS is commercialized by Aerodyne Research, and was developed by Aerodyne in collaboration with Tofwerk AG, the Jimenez Group at the University of Colorado, the Borrmann Group at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, and the Coe Group at the University of Manchester.

It is based on the highly successful design of the first generation quadrupole-based system, the Q-AMS. The ToF-AMS differs from the Q-AMS in the replacement of the quadrupole mass filter, with a custom designed Tofwerk time-of-flight mass Spectrometer.

Hardware

Manuals and Specifications

• Q-AMS Manual at Aerodyne.com
• Older Q-AMS Manual (pdf)
• Pump Control Manual
• Spec Sheets for TOF components (password protected)

FAQS

• FAQs for AMS Hardware

Procedures

• ToF-AMS Quick Start-up Checklist (xls)
• 2010 Ongoing Field Campaign Checklist (xls)
• ToF-AMS Field Operation Guide
• AMS Vacuum Failure Plan (xls, Advanced, check with Aerodyne before trying)
• Vacuum System Startup Procedure
• Procedures to measure, calibrate and troubleshoot heater board voltages (ppt) (with thanks to Bill Brooks)

Software

Data Acquisition (DAQ)

• Download and Resource Index
• ToF-AMS DAQ Manual (.pdf)
• FAQs
• Release Notes

Data Analysis

• Wiki
• Download Page (IE, SQUIRREL, PIKA)
• Squirrel and Pika Programming to do list

Data Analysis Resources

• ToF-AMS Field Data Analysis Guide
• HR-ToF Data Analysis Guide
  • HR Ion List history page
• AMS Elemental Analysis
• FAQs for AMS Analysis

Data Products

• FAQs for AMS Data Users

Reference Information

• Glossary of AMS related terms and acronyms

• AMS Users Meetings

• Drewnick et al., 2005 (paper that describes C-ToF-AMS)
• DeCarlo et al., 2006 (paper that describes HR-ToF-AMS)
• Canagaratna et al., 2007 (review paper on all AMS types and uses)
• Publications using all versions of the AMS