Environmental scientists from federal agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and academia have long suspected that increasing anthropogenic inputs of various trace gases into the atmosphere can cause changes in the earth's climate and protective ozone layer. Nitrous oxide and methane, cited in the Kyoto Protocol, as well astrichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) and dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12), cited in the Montreal Protocol, are all greenhouse gases and are implicated in the destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer. The lack of national standards prompted research to determine the feasibility of preparing accurate and stable standards containing these four compounds. Development of these standards would support the measurement of these species by those in the atmospheric research community not having their own source of standards. A suite of eight primary gas standards containing methane, nitrous oxide, CFC-11, and CFC-12 in a balance of air were prepared gravimetrically to bracket the ambient atmospheric concentrations. The combined uncertainties (uc) were calculated from error propagation analysis that included the weighing data from the gravimetric preparation and other sources of error such as the purity analysis of the compounds and air matrix. The expanded uncertainties (U) for the gravimetric standards were < 0.5% as calculated from the equation U = kuc, where the coverage factor k is equal to 2 for a 95% confidence interval. Analyses of the suite of standards by gas chromatography with flame-ionization and electron capture detection resulted in average absolute residuals of < 0.25% from regression models. The NIST suite of eight gravimetric standards was used to determine the concentrations in two standardsfrom NOAA. Those analyses resulted in bias across the two laboratories of < or = 2.1%.
This paper reports the overall experimental design and gives a brief overview of results from the third airborne Chemical Instrumentation Test and Evaluation (CITE 3) mission conducted as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Global Tropospheric Experiment. The primary objective of CITE 3 was to evaluate the capability of instrumentation for airborne measurements of ambient concentrations of SO2, H2S, CS2, dimethyl sulfide, and carbonyl sulfide. Ancillary measurements augmented the intercomparison data in order to address the secondary objective of CITE 3 which was to address specific issues related to the budget and photochemistry of tropospheric sulfur species. The CITE 3 mission was conducted on NASA's Wallops Flight Center Electra aircraft and included a ground‐based intercomparison of sulfur standards and intercomparison/sulfur science flights conducted from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia, followed by flights from Natal, Brazil. Including the transit flights, CITE 3 included 16 flights encompassing approximately 96 flight hours.
Tunable diode laser absorption spectrometry (TDLAS) and chemNumlnescence detection (CD) were both employed for the determination of seven NOj/alr compressed gas mixtures In the 2.3-2500 ppm (by mole) concentration range. In the cfiode laser determinations, we employed a variety of different measurement and calibration approaches based upon direct
Abstract. Seven techniques for the field measurement of trace atmospheric SO2 were compared simultaneously over 1 month in 1994 using samples produced in situ by dynamic dilution. Samples included SO 2 in dry air, in humid air, and in air with potentially interfering gases added. In addition, 2 days of comparison using diluted ambient air were conducted. Six of the seven techniques compared well, with good linear response and no serious interferences but with a range of calibration differences of about 50%.
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