Airborne instruments for the in situ detection of ClONO2, NO2, ClO, and BrO in the stratosphere. Progress report, 1 January-31 December 1995
Design and construction of an in situ sensor for the detection of stratospheric ClONO2, ClO, BrO, and NO2, was conceived as a two-year program. The experiment has two novel components: a resistive silicon thermal dissociation heater used to fragment ClONO2 into ClO and NO2 and a laser-induced fluorescence sensor for NO2. These two new components are integrated into an experiment that uses technology developed in the authors labs for the ER-2 ClO and ER-2 HO(X) instruments. During the first year the authors reconstructed their laboratory prototypes for ClONO2 and NO2 detection and made substantial improvements in the calibration apparatus. Results from these laboratory experiments have been used to refine the design of the flight instrument. During this year they began the design of all of the long-lead items required to produce a flight instrument: including the design and fabrication of the air flow system used to direct stratospheric air to their halogen sensors, design and prototyping of an aircraft-compatible thermal dissociation heater, and development and test of a new high powered laser system. Finally, they have designed and released for fabrication several subsystems.
- Research Organization:
- Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 218170
- Report Number(s):
- N--96-21425; NASA-CR--200554; NAS--1.26:200554; NIPS--96-33401; CNN: NCC2-892
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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