The objective of this meeting is to bring together the different users of the Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) with the purposes of: 1) getting to know each other; 2) sharing our experiences about the operation, results, and problems with the instrument; 3) motivating collaborations between the different groups; 4) being aware of what other groups are doing to avoid repeating work and to address common issues in a coordinated way. We have found in the three previous meetings that this interaction is extremely useful. Several people have commented that these meetings have been the most effective meetings they have ever been to!

The AMS Users' Group is unusual in the extent of collaboration (rather than competition) between the different research groups. This spirit of collaboration has propelled us to make much faster progress as compared to groups of similar size dealing with similar instrumentation.

The people who should attend this meeting are the people who will actually be using the instrument and analyzing the data produced, since most of the discussions will be very detailed.

This user's meeting is jointly organized by Jose-Luis Jimenez of CU Boulder and Tim Onasch of Aerodyne. Please email both of us if you are interested on attending, or if you have any other questions.

The Users' meeting will take place at Caltech (in Pasadena, very close to Anaheim) just after the AAAR Annual Meeting

• The AAAR (American Association for Aerosol Research) Annual Meeting will take place in Anaheim, California, from Mon. Oct. 20 to Fri. Oct. 24, 2003. Note that DisneyLand is also located in Anaheim, in case you want to bring your family along.
• The 4th AMS Users' Meeting will take place at Caltech from Fri. Oct. 24, 2002 at 2:00 PM to Mon. Oct. 27 at 5:00 PM.
• We strongly encourage all the AMS users to attend the AAAR meeting and present your scientific results there. Due to the growth of the AMS user base, there won't be enough time at the AMS Users' Meeting to go over the results from every project / group. The AAAR meeting is a reasonably-sized (~700 attendees), high quality meeting, and presenting your results there will allow you to put them in the context of the broader aerosol research community.
• We also strongly encourage the AMS users to attend the AAAR tutorials on Mon. Oct. 20th. These are introductory to advanced 100-min. lectures on various aerosol topics, that you can attend for a modest cost (e.g. $250 for 4 tutorials for non-students, $130 for students). They are presented by leaders on the different fields and are a great way to learn the basics and a review of current research on a particular area, in ways that are not available from books or review papers. Examples of topics include: aerosol hygroscopicity, measurement of aerosol radiative properties, bioaerosols, pharmaceutical aerosols, aerosol mass spectrometry, nano-particle measurements, aerosol mechanics I & II, etc. See the AAAR Web Page for more details.

(Note that the meeting dates are Fri. Oct. 24 to Mon. Oct. 27)

For the AMS Users' meeting, we recommend the Saga Motor Inn [1-800-793-7242] in Pasadena. Two points:

• (1) Make your reservations early! The same weekend is the "Breeders Cup" which, for you horse racers, is the superbowl of that sport. The Saga Motor Inn indicated that they will probably fill up rapidly (though their 70 rooms are mostly open right now).
• (2) When making your reservations, let them know that you will be attending the "Aerodyne Users Meeting", which is a Caltech function, and you should be quoted the following rates: $62.00 for a single and $69.00 for a double-double (two beds) per night. This rate is due to the fact that we are attending a Caltech function.

If the Saga Inn has filled up by the time you call them, here is another option (noisier but otherwise OK):

• Vagabond Inn Pasadena West, 1203 East Colorado, Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106, 1-626-449-3170 General price range: US$ 65 - 100.

There are also several more luxurious hotels within a 10 minute drive from the Cal Tech campus. The two listed here are in no special order.

• Hilton Pasadena, 168 South Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California 91101, Tel: 626-577-1000 General price range: US$ 120 - 195.
• The Westin Pasadena, 191 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, California 91101-1700, Tel: 866-478-2777; 626-792-2727. General price range: US$ 169 - 209.

The AAAR meeting will take place at the Hilton Anaheim and the rate there is $125 for single/double.

The Anaheim Desert Palm Hotel is close (< 0.5 miles, you can see the map on Expedia) and is cheaper. The rates are $55 for a double and $100 for a room with 4 queen beds (tell them that Expedia offers those rates and you want them to match them). If you don't mind sharing a room, the later can be a great option. Details at: http://www.anaheimdesertpalm.com/