ERICA
ERC Instrument for the Chemical composition of Aerosols

The European Research Council (ERC) Instrument for Chemical composition of Aerosols (ERICA) is an in situ airborne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). It combines two techniques to measure aerosol chemical composition: laser desorption ionization and thermal desorption with subsequent electron impact ionization techniques. The sampled aerosol particles are first sized through optical detection and then are vaporized and ionized by a 266 nm ultraviolet laser to determine the chemical composition. ERICA can detect particles within the 120 nm to 3.5 μm size range and has a data frequency of 0.1 Hz.