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Title: Development and field testing of a rapid and ultra-stable atmospheric carbon dioxide spectrometer

Abstract

We present field test results for a new spectroscopic instrument to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) with high precision (0.02 μmol mol-1, or ppm at 1 Hz) and demonstrate high stability (within 0.1 ppm over more than 8 months), without the need for hourly, daily, or even monthly calibration against high-pressure gas cylinders. The technical novelty of this instrument (ABsolute Carbon dioxide, ABC) is the spectral null method using an internal quartz reference cell with known CO2 column density. Compared to a previously described prototype, the field instrument has better stability and benefits from more precise thermal control of the optics and more accurate pressure measurements in the sample cell (at the mTorr level). The instrument has been deployed at a long-term ecological research site (the Harvard Forest, USA), where it has measured for 8 months without on-site calibration and with minimal maintenance, showing drift bounds of less than 0.1 ppm. Field measurements agree well with those of a commercially available cavity ring-down CO2 instrument (Picarro G2301) run with a standard calibration protocol. This field test demonstrates that ABC is capable of performing high-accuracy, unattended, continuous field measurements with minimal use of reference gas cylinders.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica, MA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
Publication Date:
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1197866
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0000905
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Published Article
Journal Name:
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Online) Journal Volume: 7 Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 1867-8548
Publisher:
Copernicus Publications, EGU
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English

Citation Formats

Xiang, B., Nelson, D. D., McManus, J. B., Zahniser, M. S., Wehr, R. A., and Wofsy, S. C. Development and field testing of a rapid and ultra-stable atmospheric carbon dioxide spectrometer. Germany: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.5194/amt-7-4445-2014.
Xiang, B., Nelson, D. D., McManus, J. B., Zahniser, M. S., Wehr, R. A., & Wofsy, S. C. Development and field testing of a rapid and ultra-stable atmospheric carbon dioxide spectrometer. Germany. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4445-2014
Xiang, B., Nelson, D. D., McManus, J. B., Zahniser, M. S., Wehr, R. A., and Wofsy, S. C. 2014. "Development and field testing of a rapid and ultra-stable atmospheric carbon dioxide spectrometer". Germany. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4445-2014.
@article{osti_1197866,
title = {Development and field testing of a rapid and ultra-stable atmospheric carbon dioxide spectrometer},
author = {Xiang, B. and Nelson, D. D. and McManus, J. B. and Zahniser, M. S. and Wehr, R. A. and Wofsy, S. C.},
abstractNote = {We present field test results for a new spectroscopic instrument to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) with high precision (0.02 μmol mol-1, or ppm at 1 Hz) and demonstrate high stability (within 0.1 ppm over more than 8 months), without the need for hourly, daily, or even monthly calibration against high-pressure gas cylinders. The technical novelty of this instrument (ABsolute Carbon dioxide, ABC) is the spectral null method using an internal quartz reference cell with known CO2 column density. Compared to a previously described prototype, the field instrument has better stability and benefits from more precise thermal control of the optics and more accurate pressure measurements in the sample cell (at the mTorr level). The instrument has been deployed at a long-term ecological research site (the Harvard Forest, USA), where it has measured for 8 months without on-site calibration and with minimal maintenance, showing drift bounds of less than 0.1 ppm. Field measurements agree well with those of a commercially available cavity ring-down CO2 instrument (Picarro G2301) run with a standard calibration protocol. This field test demonstrates that ABC is capable of performing high-accuracy, unattended, continuous field measurements with minimal use of reference gas cylinders.},
doi = {10.5194/amt-7-4445-2014},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1197866}, journal = {Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Online)},
issn = {1867-8548},
number = 12,
volume = 7,
place = {Germany},
year = {Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record at https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4445-2014

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 1 work
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Works referenced in this record:

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