An instrument for measurement of peroxy radical by chemical amplification (PERCA) has been devel- oped at Peking University (PKU) and deployed in several field campaigns. PKU PERCA measures per- oxy radical via amplification of NO2 by peroxy radical in the presence of NO and CO through a chain reaction. The amount of amplified NO2 is detected by a NO2-luminal chemiluminescence detector. The chain length (CL) of 75±20 (1σ ) was determined routinely during field campaigns using a HO2 source from photolysis of water vapor at 185 nm in air. The detection limit for peroxy radical measurement was (1-5)×10?12 (volume ratio) with integration time of 1 min, mainly relying on the variation of the ambient O3 and NO2. The systematic uncertainty in the measurement of peroxy radical was estimated to be ±60%. The effect of water vapor on PKU PERCA was observed and determined in the laboratory. The meas- urements of peroxy radical during the Program of Regional Integrated Experiments of Air Quality over Pearl River Delta 2006 (PRIDE-PRD2006) campaign are presented to show the performance of the PERCA instrument and the behavior of the observed peroxy radical is discussed briefly.
