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A system has been developed that provides real-time measurement of heavy-duty diesel engine particulates emitted during the EPA transient emission test cycle. This is accomplished by measuring the opacity of the exhaust/air mixture in an EPA type dilution tunnel with a light extinction opacity meter. Simultaneously, the temperature in the dilution tunnel is measured, and the ratio of the dilution tunnel temperature to a standard temperature is used to correct the opacity signal to standard conditions. The outstanding features of the system are that it produces a continuous record of when particulates were generated during the 20-minute transient cycle and that particulate cycle results are available immediately upon completion of the transient cycle without the requirement of conditioning and weighing filters. Results to date indicate correlation of the opacity-particulate monitor measured particulates to gravimetrically determined particulates to be within 10% for specific engines.