At the end of
2015, a CO2/CH4/CO cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS) was
installed at the Izaña Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station (Tenerife,
Spain) to improve the Izaña Greenhouse Gases GAW Measurement Programme,
and to guarantee the renewal of the instrumentation and the long-term
maintenance of this program. We present the results of the CRDS
acceptance tests, the raw data processing scheme applied, and the response
functions used. Also, the calibration results, the implemented water vapor
correction, the target gas injection statistics, the ambient measurements
performed from December 2015 to July 2017, and their comparison with other
continuous in situ measurements are described. The agreement with other in
situ continuous measurements is good most of the time for CO2 and
CH4, but for CO it is just outside the GAW 2 ppb objective. It seems
the disagreement is not produced by significant drifts in the CRDS CO World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) tertiary standards. The more relevant
contributions of the present article are (1) determination of linear
relationships between flow rate, CRDS inlet pressure, and CRDS outlet valve
aperture; (2) determination of a slight CO2 correction that takes
into account changes in the inlet pressure/flow rate (as well as its
stability over the years), and attributing it to the existence of a small
spatial inhomogeneity in the pressure field inside the CRDS cavity due to the
gas dynamics; (3) drift rate determination for the pressure and temperature
sensors located inside the CRDS cavity from the CO2 and CH4
response function drift trends; (4) the determination of the H2O
correction for CO has been performed using raw spectral peak data instead of
the raw CO provided by the CRDS and using a running mean to smooth random
noise in a long water-droplet test (12 h) before performing the least square
fit; and (5) the existence of a small H2O dependence in the CRDS flow
and of a small spatial inhomogeneity in the temperature field inside the CRDS
cavity are pointed out and their origin discussed.
Introduction
A CO2/CH4/CO cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS) was
installed at the Izaña Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station (Tenerife,
Spain) at the end of 2015 in order to improve the Izaña Greenhouse Gas
(GHG) GAW Measurement Programme, and to guarantee the long-term maintenance
of this program. The incorporation of the CRDS technique for the measurement
of atmospheric CO2, CH4, and CO mole fractions was a
recommendation of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) World
Calibration Centre (WCC) EMPA after its audit carried out at the Izaña
Observatory (IZO) in September 2013 (EMPA, 2013).
The WMO GAW program requires high precision and accuracy in atmospheric GHG
measurements, which are more stringent for trace gases with a longer lifetime
in the atmosphere. The reason is that atmospheric GHG spatial gradients
contain useful information about the spatial distribution of the surface
sources and sinks of these trace gases (Chevallier et al., 2010), but these
gradients decrease in absolute value as the trace gas lifetime increases
(Patra et al., 2014). The GAW required compatibility between laboratories is
0.1 ppm (parts per million in dry mole fraction; i.e., micromoles per mole
of dry air) for carbon dioxide in the Northern Hemisphere and 0.05 ppm in
the Southern Hemisphere; for methane, 2 ppb (parts per billion in dry mole
fraction; i.e., nanomoles per mole of dry air); and for carbon monoxide,
2 ppb (WMO, 2016).
The CRDS technique (Crosson, 2008) has improved considerably the stability
and precision in the raw measurements compared to those of older techniques
(e.g., non-dispersive infrared analyzers, NDIRs, gas chromatography, GC, with
a flame ionization detector, FID, and GC with a reduction gas detector, RGD);
therefore, the required frequency of use of calibrating/reference gases to
achieve the GAW data quality objectives (DQOs) is much lower. Additionally,
this spectrometric technique does not require chromatographic gases (e.g.,
carrier gas, makeup gas, and FID gases for maintaining the flame), which are
expensive and require great logistics efforts at remote stations. Zellweger
et al. (2016) found out, when evaluating the results of scientific audits
performed at GAW stations, that the results using newer spectroscopic
techniques (CRDS and off-axis integrated cavity output spectrometry, OAICOS),
in general, are better than those obtained with older techniques.
The Izaña Observatory is a Global GAW station located at 2373 m a.s.l.
on Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain), usually above a strong subtropical
temperature inversion. Since it is located at the summit of a mountain,
during nighttime there are North Atlantic free-troposphere background
conditions, whereas during daytime there is a slight perturbation of these
conditions by the arrival of an upslope thermal wind close to the terrain
surface (e.g., Cuevas et al., 2013; Gomez-Pelaez et al., 2013; Rodríguez
et al., 2009). Detailed information about the numerous measurement programs
in operation at IZO is provided by Cuevas et al. (2015).
This paper presents the implementation of a CRDS G2401 at IZO and the
development of the raw data processing scheme. The more relevant
contributions of the present article are (1) determining linear relationships
between flow rate, CRDS inlet pressure, and CRDS outlet valve aperture;
(2) determining a slight CO2 correction that takes into account
changes in the inlet pressure/flow rate (as well as its stability over the
years), and attributing it to the existence of a small spatial inhomogeneity
in the pressure field inside the CRDS cavity due to the gas dynamics;
(3) providing equations to determine the drift rate of the pressure and
temperature sensors located inside the CRDS cavity from the CO2 and
CH4 response function drift trends; (4) the determination of the
H2O correction for CO has been performed using raw spectral peak data
instead of the raw CO provided by the CRDS and using a running mean to smooth
random noise in a long water-droplet test (12 h) before performing the least
square fit; and (5) the existence of a small H2O dependence in the
CRDS flow and of a small spatial inhomogeneity in the temperature field
inside the CRDS cavity are pointed out and their origin discussed.
The structure of this article is as follows. We firstly detail (Sect. 2) the
results obtained in the initial tests performed on the Izaña CRDS (such
as precision, repeatability, sensibility to inlet gas pressure and response
function) as well as the relationships between flow rate, CRDS inlet
pressure, and CRDS outlet valve aperture; and the pre-processing applied to
the raw data (Sect. 3). Secondly, we analyze the results of the calibrations
performed every 3–4 weeks since the end of 2015 using WMO tertiary
standards, and provide some details on the response functions used and the
numerical processing software developed to evaluate the calibrations
(Sect. 4). Thirdly, some details of the obtained and implemented water vapor
corrections are provided (Sect. 5). Finally, the ambient measurements carried
out until July 2017 are presented, as well as some details in the numerical
processing software developed to obtain the ambient air CRDS measurements
from raw data and calibration results, and compared with those obtained with
other Izaña in situ measurement instruments (Sect. 6). In Sect. 7, a
preliminary independent assessment on the drift rates of the CRDS CO
standards is performed. The main conclusions are outlined in Sect. 8. A note
concerning the inlet pressure (Sect. 2.4) and H2O dependences of the
CRDS flow and the spatial inhomogeneity of the pressure field inside the CRDS
cavity is presented (Appendix A). Additionally, we very briefly describe in
Appendix C a few more novelties in the Izaña GHG Measurement Programme
since the WMO/IAEA Meeting on Carbon Dioxide, Other Greenhouse Gases and
Related Tracers Measurement Techniques that took place in the year 2015
(GGMT-2015).
Acceptance tests performed on the CRDS
A Picarro G2401 CRDS analyzer (serial number CFKADS2196) for measuring
CO2, CH4, CO, and H2O was installed in November 2015
at IZO. Several acceptance tests were performed on the CRDS at the station,
roughly following the recommendations provided by the European Integrated
Carbon Observation System (ICOS)-Atmospheric Thematic Centre (ATC) (ICOS-ATC,
2016). To process the data associated with the tests, the raw values for
CO2 (not dry), CH4 (not dry), CO, and H2O of the
“Synchronized DataLog_User” files were used.
Results obtained during the “precision test” (CMR) and
ICOS-threshold values for two averaging times (1 and 60 min). The standard
deviation (SD) reported is of the sample of 1 min (or 60 min) means
obtained through the full duration of the test.
Results obtained during the “repeatability test” (LTR) and
ICOS-threshold values. The SD reported is of the sample of 10 min means
obtained through the full duration of the test.
Average periodCO2 SD (ppm)CH4 SD (ppb)CO SD (ppb)Mean H2OCylinder(10 min)obtained/icos-thresholdobtained/icos-thresholdobtained/icos-threshold(ppm)120–30 min0.016/0.0500.23/0.50.23/1.0-1.3130–40 min0.021/–0.34/–0.28/–-1.8220–30 min0.016/0.0500.23/0.50.35/1.0-1.2230–40 min0.026/–0.31/–0.31/–-1.4Continuous measurement repeatability test
The first test was what ICOS-ATC (2016) called a “precision test”. This test is called
continuous measurement repeatability (CMR) by Yver Kwok et al. (2015), and
consists in measuring a gas cylinder (filled with dry natural air) over
25 h, rejecting the first hour as stabilization time. As Table 1 shows, the
results (standard deviations) obtained in this test were well within the
threshold established by ICOS-ATC (2016). Note that the precision for the
H2O measurements indicated by the manufacturer of the CRDS is
<200 ppm for 5 s averages and <50 ppm for 5 min averages. Therefore,
it is reasonable to obtain small (in absolute value) negative values
(-2.8 ppm) for H2O when measuring dry air, since, taking into
account the precision of the instrument, these values are completely
compatible with 0.0 ppm.
Long-term repeatability test
The second test performed was a “repeatability test” (this test is called
long-term repeatability, LTR, by Yver Kwok et al., 2015). According to
ICOS-ATC (2016), it consists in measuring alternately a gas cylinder (filled
with dry natural air) during 30 min and ambient air (not dried) during
270 min over 72 h. Statistics are based only on the last 10 min average
data for each gas cylinder “injection”. Indeed, we used two cylinders, each
one measured every 5 h, with the following measurement cycle: cylinder 1
during 40 min, wet ambient air during 20 min, cylinder 2 during 40 min,
and wet ambient air during 200 min. Table 2 shows the results obtained for
each tank and 10 min average period: 20–30 and 30–40 min. The results
were well within the thresholds established by ICOS-ATC (2016). Note that the
SDs reported in Table 2 (associated with 10 min means) are larger for
CO2 and CH4 (but lower for CO) than the SDs in Table 1
associated with 1 min means. This means the decrease in the random noise due
to the increase in the averaging time is countered by the increase in the SD
due to the larger response drift in the longer test (this is not the case for
CO).
Ambient pressure sensitivity test
The third test performed was an ambient pressure sensitivity test for the
measurements carried out during the mentioned period of 72 h; i.e., inlet
gauge pressure was kept constant but the lab pressure (ambient pressure) was
allowed to vary naturally. No pressure chamber was used, similarly to
Yver Kwok et al. (2015). Note that this CRDS is not meant for use on
aircraft, where large ambient pressure changes might occur. This test
provides an upper limit for the ambient pressure sensitivity, since there
might be instrumental drift not attributable to atmospheric pressure changes.
The results obtained were 0.04 ppb hPa-1 for CO,
0.0038 ppm hPa-1 for CO2, and 0.047 ppb hPa-1 for
CH4. These sensitivities are not significant. The main purpose of
this test was to confirm the CRDS CO measurements were not affected by
natural ambient pressure changes, as indeed Yver Kwok et al. (2015) found for
several CRDS units.
Relationships between inlet pressure, flow rate, and outlet valve
aperture: inlet pressure sensitivity test
Due to their importance for the present article, we detail firstly the
relationships we have found between inlet pressure, flow rate, and outlet
valve opening.
Results of tests performed on 4 non-consecutive days in which dry
natural air coming from a standard was measured during many consecutive hours
changing the CRDS inlet pressure every hour or longer. pi is the
CRDS inlet pressure and “Flow” is the flow measured downstream of the
CRDS.
According to the information provided by the manufacturer (Chris Rella,
private communication, 2018), there is both a proportional valve and a
physical critical orifice in the inlet system of the G2401 CRDS cavity. The
proportional valve is opened slowly at start-up to ensure that the flow
changes smoothly, but after this start-up procedure, the valve is set to open
fully, and the flow is set by the critical orifice. There is also a
proportional valve at the outlet of the cavity and upstream of the vacuum
pump. The cavity (absolute) pressure is kept at 186.7 hPa (140 Torr) by
controlling the opening of the outlet valve (OV).
A choked flow is a flow through a critical orifice in which the following
condition holds for the inlet to outlet (absolute) pressure ratio (Van den
Bosch and Duijm, 2005):
pipo≥γ+12γ/(γ-1),
where pi is the inlet (absolute) pressure, po is the
outlet (absolute) pressure, and γ is the ratio of specific heats
(cp/cv) for the considered gas. For dry air, γ is
equal to 1.4 and the right-hand side of Eq. (1) is equal to 1.893. In a
choked flow, the speed is supersonic just downstream of the orifice and the
flow rate does not depend on the downstream quantities (because
“information” cannot propagate faster than sound). Since the minimal
recommended inlet (absolute) pressure for the CRDS G2401 is 400 hPa, and the
cavity pressure is 187 hPa (140 Torr), the flow in the inlet critical
orifice is always choked. This is the reason why the flow through the CRDS
cavity depends only on upstream quantities (mainly the inlet pressure) and
not on the cavity quantities. However, for flight-ready models, the critical
orifice is located at the outlet of the CRDS cavity, and therefore, the inlet
pressure for the orifice is the cavity pressure, which is kept constant.
The theoretical equation relating the standard volumetric flow (F) to the
inlet quantities for a choked flow is (Van den Bosch and Duijm, 2005)
F=Cd⋅A⋅pi⋅Tsps⋅γ⋅RTi⋅2γ+1γ+1/γ-11/2,
where Ts and ps are the standard (absolute) temperature
(273.15 K) and pressure (1013.25 hPa), respectively, Ti is the
inlet (absolute) temperature, R is the gas constant, Cd is the
discharge coefficient (dimensionless) and A is the hole cross-sectional
area. Equation (2) shows that the standard volumetric flow is proportional to
the inlet (absolute) pressure and inversely proportional to the square root
of the inlet (absolute) temperature.
Results of the first and second sets of inlet pressure sensitivity
tests. pi is the CRDS inlet pressure and OV is the aperture of the
CRDS-cavity outlet valve.
As indicated in Sect. 6, the ambient air/gas standard plumbing configuration
operational since 28 November 2016, includes a Red-Y mass flow meter (MFM)
downstream of the CRDS, but upstream of the vacuum pump. There is an
expansion volume between the MFM and the vacuum pump to smooth the pulses
induced in the flow by the pump.
The fourth acceptance test was an inlet pressure sensitivity test when
measuring a gas cylinder filled with dry natural air. This test was performed
on 25 and 26 November 2015. Additional more complete tests of that type were
performed in July and August 2018.
Figure 1 shows results of that second set of tests (no flow rate measurements
were carried out during the first set of tests) performed on 4
non-consecutive days in which dry natural air coming from a standard was
measured during many consecutive hours changing the CRDS inlet pressure every
hour or longer, discarding the first 20 min after the pressure change, and
keeping the mean of the measurements till the next pressure change. The
sequences of pressures used were not monotonic but with jumps up and down.
Pressure was measured using the regulator gauge and then ambient pressure was
summed. On 24 July 2018 the test was performed using a cylinder regulator of
a different type than the one used the other 3 days. As Fig. 1 shows, the
relationship between the CRDS inlet pressure and the flow rate is linear.
Table 3 shows the coefficients and R2 obtained fitting a straight line
to the data of each test. The linear fits are very good (R2 is almost 1)
and very similar (the first one is slightly different, probably due to the
use of a different regulator and a larger pressure range).
Coefficients and R2 obtained fitting a straight line to the
test data shown in Fig. 1. “sml” denotes standard milliliters.
SlopeInterceptTest(sml (min hPa)-1)(sml min-1)R224 July 20180.244-27.90.999831 July 20180.229-12.20.999628 August 20180.228-9.50.998430 August 20180.226-8.40.9996
Figure 2 shows results of the first and second sets of inlet pressure
sensitivity tests. The first tests were performed alternating only between
two inlet pressures, using cylinder regulators different from those used in
the second set of tests. As Fig. 2 shows, the relationship between the CRDS
inlet pressure and OV is linear. Table 4 shows the coefficients and R2
obtained fitting a straight line to the data of each test. The linear fits
are very good (R2 is very near 1) and have very similar slopes (except
for the test performed using a larger pressure range).
Results of the inlet pressure sensitivity tests for CO2,
CH4 and CO, using OV as an independent variable. For each test, “d”
denotes the difference with respect to the mean raw mole fraction measured
during the whole test.
Figure 3 shows results of the inlet pressure sensitivity tests for
CO2, CH4 and CO, using OV as independent variable. Since the
cylinders used were not unique, for each test we use the difference with
respect to the mean raw mole fraction measured during the whole test and the
symbol “d” to indicate such difference. As Fig. 3 shows, the relationship
between dCO2raw and OV is linear. Note that the dCO2raw
values are quite small, and therefore it is not surprising there is some
noise in the fit, but the slopes obtained in the six tests are consistent.
For dCH4raw there is a linear relationship too, but noisier. For
dCOraw there is no significant linear relationship. Table 5 shows
the mean slope and intercept for each trace gas as well as the associated
standard deviations. Those numbers confirm the previous sentences concerning
the statistical significance of the linear fits for CO2, CH4
and CO.
Coefficients and R2 obtained fitting a straight line to the
test data shown in Fig. 2.
TestSlope (hPa-1)InterceptR225 November 201519.277200.995426 November 201519.570200.999624 July 201817.611 3000.991331 July 201819.287100.991328 August 201819.193200.965930 August 201819.586600.9934
Mean slope and intercept for the fits (Fig. 3) associated with each
trace gas (as well as the associated standard deviations, SDs) in the inlet
pressure sensitivity tests.
Taking into account the linear relationship between inlet pressure and OV,
and the values shown in Table 5, the sensitivities obtained were 0.00×10-2 ppb kPa-1 (since the slope is not statistically significant)
for CO, -0.83×10-3 ppm kPa-1 for CO2, and
-0.47×10-2 ppb kPa-1 for CH4, which are quite small
except for CO2 (e.g., 30 kPa produces a bias of -0.025 ppm in
CO2). Since the CRDS inlet pressure can be different (e.g.,
differences of a few tens of kPa may be present) when changing the sample
(laboratory standards, target gases and ambient air), and in order to be able
to achieve a very accurate response function for CO2, we empirically
correct for this effect as explained in Sect. 3.1.
Calibration curve fitting test
The fifth test was fitting response curves when calibrating with four WMO
tertiary standards (six cycles, 2.5 h cycle-1; each standard is
measured during 30 consecutive minutes as well as a target gas). When
performing a linear fitting for CH4, the root mean square (rms,
accounting for the effective degrees of freedom) residual was 0.143 ppb
(very small). When performing a linear fitting for CO, the rms residual was
0.067 ppb (very small). However, when performing a linear fitting for
CO2, the rms residual was 0.0395 ppb, which is larger than the
values we usually obtain with our NDIR-based measurement system for
CO2 when using a quadratic fitting (Gomez-Pelaez and Ramos, 2011).
Moreover, when using a quadratic fitting for the CRDS CO2, the rms
residual was 0.0284 ppm, still slightly worse than that of our NDIR-based
systems. Finally, when correcting the raw CO2 from the inlet pressure
sensitivity and then performing a quadratic fitting, the rms residual was
0.0219 ppm, which is similar to the values obtained with our NDIR-based
systems. During the calibration described above, the inlet pressure
differences were especially intense. We have improved our skills since then,
getting smaller inlet pressure differences during the calibrations.
Data acquisition and pre-processing
Pre-processing refers to the computation of raw-data 30 s means and
corresponding standard deviations using the DataLog_User files (not
the synchronized ones), as well as the computation of some derived variables
detailed below. We have developed the pre-processing software, as well as the
calibration and ambient-air processing software. For the computation of 30 s
means and standard deviations, we take into account the so-called “species”
field. The species code is different for each spectral range in which the
measurements are performed. There are four spectral ranges and three lasers,
since two nearby spectral ranges are scanned with the same laser (see Chen et
al., 2010, 2013, for details about these spectral ranges). The fields updated
in each file line are those related to the spectral lines measured in the
corresponding spectral range. The DataLog_User file contains 1.7
lines / s, and these lines follow this time sequence of species: 1, 2, 4,
and 3. The raw variables associated with each “species” value are
(a) Species = 1, CO2, peak_14 (p14), and CO;
(b) Species = 2, CH4, CO2_dry; (c) Species = 3,
H2O, h2o_reported (hr), CO2_dry, and
CH4_dry; and (d) Species = 4, CO, b_h2o_pct
(bh), and peak84_raw (p84); where CO2 and
CH4 are raw values not corrected from H2O dilution nor
pressure broadening, whereas CO2_dry and CH4_dry have
been (factory) corrected from those effects, p14 is the raw value
associated with the main CO2 peak, CO is already (factory) corrected
from the CO2 and H2O influences, H2O is the
calibrated value obtained from hr, which is the reported H2O
raw value associated with the main H2O peak (in the CH4-peak
laser wavelength range), bh is the H2O raw value associated
with the secondary H2O peak (in the CO-peak laser wavelength range),
and p84 is the raw value associated with the CO peak. Additionally,
there are other raw variables not associated with a single “species” value
that we use: cavity pressure (CP), cavity temperature (CT),
multi-position valve (MPV) position (MPVP), outlet valve (OV), and
solenoid valves (SVs). Note that the Picarro software is able to control
both solenoid (up to six) and MPV (just one) valves for the gas handling
system, and stores the positions of the valves in the same file as the output
data for the measured trace gases. The information on the positions of the
solenoid valves is codified in a single natural number (SV).
A 30 s mean is accepted when (a) at least 85 % of the expected data are
present and (b) all the instantaneous data have the same MPVP and SV
values. Additionally, a counter called “npcmc” is assigned to each 30 s
mean. It indicates the number of consecutive 30 s means with the same
configuration for both MPVP and SV.
Inlet pressure sensitivity correction for raw CO2
We use the original empirical relationship we determined through the inlet
pressure sensitivity test mentioned in Sect. 2.4, which leads to the
following outlet-valve-corrected raw CO2:
CO2ovc=CO2raw+0.04⋅(OV-26468.15)/7700.CO2ovc is the raw value we use for the CO2 processing. These
slope and intercept values are compatible with the corresponding mean values
shown in Table 5 (distant less than 1 standard deviation from the
corresponding mean). CO2ovc is corrected from the inlet pressure
sensitivity but not for the H2O dilution and pressure broadening.
According to the knowledge of the authors, this is a new correction not
considered previously in the scientific literature.
Note that if Eq. (3) is expanded, only the slope term in OV is kept fixed,
since the independent term is, in practice, combined with the independent
term of the mole-fraction calibration curve (see Sect. 4), which is updated
periodically. Therefore, this automatically takes into account hypothetical
drifts in the independent term of Eq. (3). As Fig. 2 and Table 4 show, the
slope of the linear relationship between OV and pi is consistent
through the years, and no significant change in time is observed in the slope
of the linear relationship between dCO2raw and OV. Note that if we
average the addends of Eq. (3) and subtract those from Eq. (3), we obtain an
equation for dCO2raw that is linear in OV and has an intercept that
depends on the average OV. This explains why in Fig. 3a, the fit for the test
with the largest OV range (smallest average OV) is below the rest of the test
fits.
In Appendix A, we provide a plausible physical explanation for this effect,
after determining the H2O dependence of the CRDS flow and arguing
that the pressure field inside the CRDS cavity is slightly inhomogeneous.
Note that our arguments that point out to the fact that the inhomogeneity of
the pressure field inside the cavity due to the flow produces the
CO2raw dependence on the OV, seem also to be supported by the
following fact: the relative effect of the flow on CO2raw and
CH4raw is roughly the same, as we could roughly expect from the
decrease in trace gas concentration (mol per volume) that takes place inside
the CRDS cavity near the inlet and outlet, due to the decreased pressure (see
Appendix A). Note that, dividing the slopes of Table 5 by the typical ambient
air mole fraction at IZO (405 ppm for CO2 and 1880 ppb for
CH4), we obtain 1.06×10-8 for CO2 and 1.31×10-8 for CH4.
Raw CH4
We call CH4raw the raw CH4 multiplied by 1000 (to have ppb
units) and use it for the CH4 processing. Note that CH4raw is
the wet value not corrected from H2O dilution and pressure
broadening.
Computed raw wet CO
The CO value provided by the G2401 CRDS includes the correction due to
H2O dilution and pressure broadening. However, what we use for CO
processing is the CO raw value (wet) that Picarro calls
peak84_spec_wet (p84sw), which is p84 corrected
from the H2O and CO2 spectral peak overlapping (interference
that changes the zero of p84). To compute it, we use the equations
that our G2401 employs internally (Chris Rella, private communication, 2016):
4co2_p14=0.706630873⋅p14,5p84sw=p84+off+w1⋅bh+wc⋅bh⋅co2_p14+w2⋅bh2+c1⋅co2_p14,
where off=-0.000800885106752, w1=-0.0334069906515,
wc=-8.2480775807×10-7,
w2= 0.00633381386844, and c1=8.87510231866×10-6. We denote p84sw', p84sw multiplied by 1000. That
is the raw value we use for the CO processing; i.e., it is the wet value not
corrected from H2O dilution and pressure broadening nor converted to
ppb units.
Calibrations and response functions
After processing, the measurements we carry out with the CRDS are in the
following WMO scales: X2007 for CO2, X2004A for CH4 and
X2014A for CO, since we use four multi-species WMO tertiary standards filled
(with dried natural air) and calibrated by the WMO Central Calibration
Laboratory (CCL) for these gases (https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccl/,
last access: 26 March 2019).
In each cycle of a calibration we use the four WMO tertiary standards and two
target gases that act as unknowns. Each tank is measured continuously during
30 min every cycle. From December 2015 to August 2016, each calibration had
five cycles and a calibration was performed every 3 weeks. From
September 2016 till present, each calibration has two cycles and a
calibration is performed every month. In the first period, we adopted a
conservative strategy, and after analyzing the obtained results in detail we
concluded that the second calibration strategy provided results that
satisfied our accuracy requirements. Note that since there are technicians at
the station every day, the regulators of the WMO tertiary standards remain
closed between calibrations. This helps avoid any hypothetical problem of
drifting in the standards due to very small leaks or differential diffusion
inside the regulators that might propagate to the interior of the cylinders
through the open valves by diffusion during the weeks the standard air
remains static inside the regulators. For CO2 and CH4, the
last 10 min of each gas injection are used. However, for CO, the last
20 min are used since CO measurements are noisier (i.e., better signal to
noise ratio when incrementing the averaging period), and 10 min of
stabilization time is enough for CO (numerical details not presented here).
The calibration processing is done using our own numerical code. To process a
calibration, the code computes the mean raw response for each tank and
species, and then performs a least-square fit to the respective response
function detailed below. For CH4 and CO, we use linear response
functions
CH4raw=b⋅CH4+c,
and
p84sw′=b⋅CO+c,
where CH4 and CO are the dry mole fractions (the gas standards are
dry) in ppb assigned by the CCL on the WMO scales. We have preferred to use a
quadratic fit instead of a linear fit for CO2, since the rms residual
is significantly smaller: considering the first 13 calibrations, the mean rms
residual for linear fits is 0.035 ppm, whereas for quadratic fits it is
0.020 ppm. As mentioned in Sect. 2.5, we have chosen the quadratic fit for
CO2 to obtain rms residuals as small as we obtain with the IZO
NDIR-based measurement system. The quadratic function with a raw signal
slightly corrected in the outlet valve aperture used (as described in
Sect. 3.1) is
CO2ovc=a⋅CO22+b⋅CO2+c,
where CO2 is the dry mole fraction in ppm assigned by the CCL on the
WMO scale. Since b is always positive (and near 1) and a is always
negative and near zero, CO2 is given by this solution of the
second-order algebraic Eq. (8):
CO2=-b+b2-4⋅a(c-CO2ovc)/2⋅a.
CRDS raw responses (blue dots) for a virtual tank (400 ppm of
CO2, 1850 ppb of CH4, and 100 ppb of CO) computed using the
response functions obtained in the calibrations. Each red line corresponds to
a least-square fitting of the data to a linear function.
To assess the drift in time of the response function from December 2015 to
July 2017, we use the concept of virtual tank of fixed (assigned WMO; i.e.,
CO2, CH4, and CO) mole fractions (Yver Kwok et al., 2015) and
compute the raw values (CO2ovc, CH4raw, and
p84sw') associated with those mole fractions using the response
functions obtained in the calibrations. We consider a virtual tank with
400 ppm of CO2, 1850 ppb of CH4 and 100 ppb of CO.
Moreover, we present here a justification of that procedure and complement it
by using the local slope of the response function at the mole fraction of the
virtual tank for each species. In the field of high-accuracy atmospheric
trace-gas measurements, the calibration fits are generally performed using a
limited range in the independent variable that is far from zero (a range
around the atmospheric mole fractions of interest). This produces an
anticorrelation between the coefficients b and c. The reason is the fact
that if b has a positive error (larger slope) then c will have a negative
error (smaller Y intercept) that will increase in absolute value as the
distance between the used X range and zero increases. Therefore, plotting
the time series b and c is not the best option for assessing the
stability in time of the response function, since part of the variability is
due to the anticorrelation and does not correspond with a real variability
within the X range of interest. A more interesting option is to plot the
Y value corresponding to a X value located within the range of interest
instead of c (virtual tank concept) and the local slope at that X value.
Note that for CH4 and CO, which have linear response functions, the
local slope does not depend on mole fraction and is equal to the coefficient
b.
Figure 4 shows the CRDS raw responses for that virtual tank computed using
the response functions obtained in the calibrations. From Fig. 4, we obtain
the CRDS long-term drift of the raw responses: 0.104 ppm year-1 for
CO2, 2.22 ppb year-1 for CH4, and
0.544 ppb year-1 for CO.
Scatter plot of CH4raw vs. CO2raw for the
mentioned virtual tank. The red line has been obtained performing a
least-square fitting of the data to a linear function.
As Yver Kwok et al. (2015), we define the fractional variables
CH4frac=CH4raw/ 1850 and
CO2frac=CO2ovc/ 400, i.e., as the raw mole
fractions of the virtual tank divided by the real mole fractions. Figure 5
shows a scatter plot of CH4raw vs. CO2ovc for the virtual
tank. When fitting a linear function, the obtained slope is
20.788 ppb ppm-1, which is equal to 4.495 when using the fractional
variables, CH4frac and CO2frac.
Assuming that those drifts are due to drifts in the real pressure and
temperature of the cavity (i.e., drifts in the P and T sensors that, in
turn, cause the cavity to be controlled at slightly drifting pressure and/or
temperature), taking into account the fact that the empirical sensitivities
(partial derivatives) of the CRDS raw CO2 and CH4 with
respect to CP and CT are known (Sect. 3.3.6 of Yver Kwok et al., 2015),
and using these general relationships between partial derivatives:
dCH4fracdCO2frac=∂CH4frac∂T⋅dTdp+∂CH4frac∂p∂CO2frac∂T⋅dTdp+∂CO2frac∂p,
and
dCH4fracdt=∂CH4frac∂T⋅dTdp+∂CH4frac∂pdpdt.
We have determined that our CRDS has a long-term drift of
0.114 ∘C hPa-1 (obtained using Eq. 10 and taking into account
that the left-hand side of Eq. 10 is equal to the slope shown in Fig. 5
multiplied by 400/1850), 0.595 hPa year-1 (obtained using Eq. 11 and
taking into account that the left-hand side of Eq. 11 is equal to the slope
shown in Fig. 4b divided by 1850), and 0.0678 ∘C year-1
(obtained multiplying the two former numbers) in the cavity sensors. Note
that the use of Eqs. (10) and (11), which provide a quantitative estimation
of the drift in temperature and pressure, is new in the
GHG monitoring literature. The fact that
the drifts in temperature and pressure are linear in time is a consequence of
the fact that the slopes shown in Figs. 5, 4a and b are constant, and from
Eqs. (10) and (11).
Figure 6 provides additional information about the response functions
determined in the calibration. In detail, Fig. 6 provides for each species
the local slope of the response function at the mole fraction of the virtual
tank, as well as the quadratic coefficient (a) for the CO2 response
function.
Quadratic coefficient of the CO2 response function (a) and
local slope of the response function at the mole fraction of the virtual
tank, for CO2, CH4, and CO. Note that for CH4 and CO,
the local slope does not depend on the mole fraction and is equal to the
coefficient b. The red line corresponds to a least-square fitting of the
data to a linear function.
The rms residual of
the fit (red dots/line) and the difference between the assigned mole fraction
to a target gas and the mean mole fraction of such a target gas (a different
color is used for each target gas), for each species and mole-fraction
calibration performed using four WMO laboratory standards (every 3 or
4 weeks).
Figure 7 provides for each species and calibration the rms residual of the
fit and the difference between the assigned mole fraction to a target gas and
the mean mole fraction of such target gas. For CO2, the mean rms
residual for all the calibrations is 0.021 ppm, there is no trend in the
associated time series, and the maximum departure in absolute value of a
target gas assignment from the mean for such target gas is 0.026 ppm. Those
numbers are quite small compared with the GAW DQO for CO2, and
indicate a good performance of the measurement system for CO2. For
CH4, the mean rms residual for all the calibrations is 0.09 ppb,
there is no trend in the associated time series, and the maximum departure in
absolute value of a target gas assignment from the mean for such target gas
is 0.18 ppb. As for CO2, those numbers are quite small compared with
the GAW DQO for CH4 and indicate a good performance of the
measurement system for CH4. However, for CO, there is a significant
trend in the time series of rms residuals, which show a value of around
0.1 ppb for the first calibrations, but increasing to around 0.7 ppb for
the last calibrations. Moreover, there are significant downward drifts in all
the time series of target gas assignments, which is a very strange fact since
CO standards normally drift upward (i.e., when a CO standard drifts, this
drift is generally positive; e.g.,
https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccl/co_scale.html, last access:
26 March 2019). All these facts suggest that the IZO CRDS CO WMO tertiary
standards might be drifting upward quite significantly at different rates. In
Sect. 7, this possibility is investigated.
Water vapor correction: water-droplet method
The natural air contained in the WMO tertiary standards and the target
standards is dry. However, ambient air contains water vapor and if it is not
completely dried before measurements (as is done in NDIRs), the dilution and
pressure broadening effects due to H2O need to be taken into account
and corrected (Chen et al., 2010, 2013; Zellweger et al., 2012; Rella et al.,
2013; Karion et al., 2013).
To determine the particular water vapor dilution and pressure broadening
corrections for IZO CRDS G2041, we performed a long water-droplet test
(around 12 h) using crushed (to increase the surface / volume ratio)
silica gel balls soaked with deionized water contained in a stainless steel
filter housing (called MPI/NOAA implementation in Rella et al., 2013), as
Fig. 8 shows. The dry natural air coming from a standard flowed continuously
around 12 h through the wet silica gel before being measured in the CRDS.
Figure 9 shows the evolution in time of the h2o_reported
(hr) in pph (parts per hundred in mole fraction, i.e., centimoles
per mole of air) determined by the CRDS.
Experimental setup used for the water-droplet test performed on IZO
CRDS G2401. (1) Cylinders containing dry natural air (the red arrow shows the
flow direction); (2) stainless steel filter housing containing crushed silica
gel balls (see details of the interior in 5) soaked with deionized
water; (3) stainless steel 0.5 µm filter; and (4) CRDS.
For CO2 and CH4, we use these empirical correction equations
for the H2O dilution and pressure broadening effects (Chen et al.,
2010):
12CO2ovc_wet=CO2ovc_dry⋅1+d⋅hr+e⋅hr2,13CH4raw_wet=CH4raw_dry⋅1+d⋅hr+e⋅hr2,
where CO2ovc_dry, CH4raw_dry, d, and e
(different in each equation) are determined by least-square fitting to test
results. Since the experiment is very long, before performing the
least-square fit, we aggregate data computing 100-data means. That
corresponds approximately to a 59 s mean, since there are
1.7 data s-1. For CO2, we obtained coefficients d and e
very close to those reported by Chen et al. (2010). Thus, we decided to use
their coefficients, d=-0.012 pph-1 and e=-0.000267 pph-2.
However, in Appendix B, we provide Fig. B1, which shows CO2ovc_wet
vs. hr during the experiment, because it is going to be referenced
in the present section when discussing a related topic. Figure 10 shows
CH4raw_wet vs. hr during the experiment and the
least-square fitted curve, the coefficients obtained for CH4 being d=-0.009974 pph-1 and e=-0.0001757 pph-2.
Evolution in time of the h2o_reported (pph) determined by
the CRDS.
CH4raw_wet vs. hr during the
water-droplet experiment (in blue) and
the least-square fitted curve (in black).
As requested by one of the referees, we discuss here the reported sensitivity
of the CRDS pressure sensor with H2O by Reum et al. (2019). First of
all, we point out that we have found the fits of the standard H2O
correction models (Eqs. 12 and 13) to our empirical data to be excellent (see
Figs. 10 and B1). Note that we have used a long water-droplet test instead of
the common short droplet test used by Reum et al. (2019). Those authors also
used a method that maintains stable water vapor levels but only considers a
discrete set of levels. Since they also found a large disparity of results
between different units of the same CRDS model, we recommend further
investigation into the pressure sensor sensitivity claimed by Reum et
al. (2019), taking into account the following two facts. First, when
attaching the external pressure measurement unit (Fig. 2 of Reum et al.,
2019), the choked flow takes place at the needle valve called “choke”
instead of at the CRDS outlet valve. However, at the CRDS outlet valve, which
has a critical orifice in the flight-ready CRDS used by those authors, there
is a significant longitudinal decrease in the pressure due to viscosity. Note
that if the CP is increased, the flow rate increases (see our Eq. 2, but
using CP instead of pi), and the pressure drop due to viscosity
increases. This seems to be indeed the reason that explains the 0.95 value
those authors found for the derivative of the external pressure with respect
to the CRDS pressure. Note also that humid air has a larger dynamical
viscosity than dry air (e.g., Tsilingiris, 2008). For the H2O mole
fraction between 0 and 5 pph, it holds that dynamical viscosity depends
almost linearly on the H2O mole fraction, being equal at
45 ∘C to 1.94×10-5 N s m-2 for 0 pph, whereas it
is equal to 2.04×10-5 N s m-2 for 5 pph (obtained from
the Tsilingiris, 2008, equations). This fact agrees in sign with the 1 %
decrease reported by Reum et al. (2019) on the derivative of the external
pressure with respect to the CRDS pressure when considering humid air
(3 pph). Second, on the tee to which the external pressure sensor is
attached, there is a H2O gradient between the main flow and the
dryer, and a net H2O diffusive flux from the main flow till the
dryer, which might produce a drag force in the dry air. Then, this dry air
would need to adopt a configuration with a pressure gradient force opposing
the H2O drag force. This would mean that the external pressure sensor
would measure a pressure larger than that presented in the main flow, and the
pressure difference would increase with the H2O mole fraction.
(a)p84sw' vs. bh during the
water-droplet experiment (blue dots), both after performing a 4000-data
running mean, and the least-square fitted curve corresponding to Eq. (15) in
black. (b) Difference between the raw CO provided by the CRDS and
the CO processed in the way described in this article (including H2O
correction and calibration), both after performing a 4000-data running mean.
We consider here briefly, in order to suggest future research on this topic,
a fact that has not been taken into account in the previous CRDS literature
according to our knowledge. Due to the CRDS inlet critical orifice, at the
same time as the velocity increases until it becomes supersonic, there is an
adiabatic expansion of the air that decreases the temperature below the
dew/frost point if the air has enough water vapor. Note that at the critical
orifice the velocity becomes sonic, the pressure is 0.528 times de inlet
pressure, the density is 0.634 times the inlet density, and the absolute
temperature is 0.833 the inlet absolute temperature (Courant and Friedrichs,
1976). Those values decrease more downstream of the critical orifice till the
air reaches the stationary shock front, where the velocity decreases suddenly
and the temperature increases suddenly until reaching a value similar to the
inlet one (Courant and Friedrichs, 1976). We suggest future research on the
following possibility: formation of micro-droplets in the expansion flow,
dissolution of CO2 in these micro-droplets, and interchange of oxygen
atoms between the dissolved CO2 and the liquid water (therefore, the
isotopic ratios are changed), before the micro-droplets are suddenly
evaporated at the shock front.
Ambient air/gas standard plumbing configuration operational since
28 November 2016.
For CO, we rely on the H2O dilution and pressure broadening
correction determined by Rella (2010), as other authors have done (Chen et
al., 2013; Oliver Laurent, private communication, 2017), and determine an
improvement in the correction for the CO peak interference (zero error or
spectral-baseline correction) due to the nearby H2O peak, with
respect to the factory values. To this end, we use a simple and accurate
novel method. We consider the equation
14p84sw′+A⋅bh+B⋅bh2+C⋅bh3=p84sd'⋅1+d⋅bh+e⋅bh2,
which is equivalent to Eqs. (12) and (13) except for the cubic polynomial on
the left-hand side that accounts for the mentioned CO spectral-baseline
correction. We advance that the novelty is not in the cubic correction (Chen
et al., 2013; Karion et al., 2013, used a quartic correction), but in the
method described below. We use d=-0.01287 and e=-0.0005365 (Rella,
2010), and p84sd', A, B, and C are determined by least-square
fitting of the experimental data to the cubic equation
15p84sw′=p84sd′+d⋅p84sd′-A⋅bh+e⋅p84sd′-B⋅bh2-C⋅bh3,
obtained rearranging Eq. (14). The instantaneous CRDS CO signal is quite
noisy, but the noise is significantly reduced by using 4000-data running
means (39.2 min approximately) without compromising the accuracy of the data
due to the long duration of the experiment. Note that least-square fits are
very sensitive to outliers, and the fit will be more accurate if the
4000-data running mean is performed previously (using a 39 min running mean
instead of a 1 min running mean, the random noise is reduced by a factor of
6, approximately). As far as the authors know, this is new in the GHG
monitoring literature. It is important to have a very accurate H2O
correction, since in spite of the fact that the instantaneous CRDS CO values
are quite noisy, such noise decreases significantly when performing
successively 30 s, 1 h, 12 h means, whereas the hypothetical error in the
H2O correction remains constant, behaving as a bias. After performing
the 4000-data running means, we aggregate data computing 100-data means as
for CO2 and CH4. Figure 11 shows p84sw' vs.
bh during the experiment and the least-square fitted curve
corresponding to Eq. (15). After determining the coefficients of that cubic
polynomial, we solve for the unknown constants in Eq. (14): A=-5.287565 raw pph-1, B=5.283987 raw pph-2, and C=-1.120169 raw pph-3. The absolute value of A is much smaller than
1000×|w1|, which appears in Eq. (5). This means A is indeed a
relatively small correction. By contrast, B and C are very significant
corrections compared with their respective terms in Eq. (5), in which there
is no cubic term. Figure 11 also shows the difference between the raw CO
provided by the CRDS and the CO processed in the way described in this
article (including H2O correction and calibration), both after
performing a 4000-data running mean. The difference of -3.5 ppb at the
intercept is due to the calibration (COraw is not calibrated),
whereas the “sinusoidal” behavior in bh is due to the different
spectral-baseline correction, which in the first variable is generic, whereas
in the second variable it is specific to our CRDS unit.
Ambient measurements
Figure 12 shows the ambient air/gas standard plumbing configuration
operational since 28 November 2016. Before that date, there was no
“dedicated inlet”, no drying (no cooled flasks), no solenoid or needle
valves, and ambient air entered through the MPV. Operational ambient air
measurements started on 27 November 2015. Target gas measurements started on
18 December 2015 with a 7 h cycle (3 h of ambient, 30 min of target 1,
3 h of ambient, and 30 min of target 2) to monitor better the behavior of
the CRDS, which became a 21 h cycle after 24 June 2016. With the new
plumbing configuration, ambient air is alternatively sampled from the two
inlet lines within the 21 h cycle (15 h of ambient from the dedicated inlet
and 5 h of ambient from the general inlet). This has two purposes: (1) to
provide plenty of time to exchange the flask used to trap H2O in the
air line not used at this moment; (2) to check the consistency between both
lines after every switch: a bias between them might indicate the existence of
a leak in one of the lines (e.g., in the general inlet, which has a few large
unions and several instruments connected to it; or at the flasks
connections). Since the cooler bath temperature is -40∘C, there
is no complete drying. Therefore, it has been necessary to apply the water
vapor correction for the full measurement period.
Indirect plots of the H2O corrections applied to CO2
(dCO2_H2O), CH4 (dCH4_H2O) and CO
(dCO_H2O) in physical units for ambient air measurements at IZO,
e.g., dCO2_H2O is equal to
(CO2ovc_dry–CO2ovc_wet) divided by the local slope of
the calibration curve (Eq. 8).
Ambient air measurement processing
After performing the pre-processing detailed in Sect. 3, we apply an
additional filtering to the 30 s means. We retain a pre-processed 30 s mean
if the following conditions are met: (1) the mean values of the following
variables are within the indicated ranges: CP: 186.7±0.047 hPa (140±0.035 Torr), CT: 45±0.02∘C, and OV: 20 000–40 000;
(2) there is a calibration before and after the ambient mean considered,
distant in time less than 180 days from each other, as is done in ICOS (Hazan
et al., 2016).
Then, we apply the following processing scheme. Firstly, we apply water vapor
correction: (a) using Eqs. (12) and (13) we compute CO2ovc_dry and
CH4raw_dry from CO2ovc_wet, CH4raw_wet and
hr (i.e., dilution and pressure broadening effect correction);
(b) using Eq. (14) we compute p84sd' from p84sw' and
bh (i.e., refinement of the interference correction as well as
dilution and pressure broadening effect correction). Secondly, we apply the
calibration curves interpolated linearly in time: (a) for CO2, we
employ Eq. (9) using CO2ovc_dry where it says CO2ovc;
(b) for CH4, we employ Eq. (6) using CH4raw_dry where it
says CH4raw; and (c) for CO, we employ Eq. (7) using p84sd'
where it says p84sw'. Finally, we proceed to discard data due to the
stabilization time after any sample path switch: 10 min for ambient
measurements and 20 min for target and calibration gas injections.
Statistics for the target gas injections (30 s mean assignments):
mean and SD for the different species.
Time series of mole fraction assignments for one of the target
gases.
Figure 13 shows implicitly the H2O corrections applied to CO2
(dCO2_H2O), CH4 (dCH4_H2O) and CO
(dCO_H2O) in physical units for ambient air measurements at IZO,
e.g., dCO2_H2O is equal to
(CO2ovc_dry-CO2ovc_wet) divided by the local slope
of the calibration curve (Eq. 8). The plots for CO2 and CH4
are curves. However, the plot for CO shows a cloud of dots because Eq. (14)
is more complex and there does not exist a bijection between the X and Y
variables.
After the date in which the cold bath was implemented (-40∘C),
the applied H2O corrections for ambient air measurements have been
quite small: (1) for CO2, the mean correction has been 0.10 ppm
(maximum: 0.36 ppm, minimum: 0.09 ppm; both for 10 min means); (2) for
CH4, the mean correction has been 0.38 ppb (maximum: 1.39 ppb,
minimum: 0.34 ppb; both for 10 min means); and (3) for CO, the mean
correction has been -0.03 ppb (maximum in absolute value: -0.07 ppb,
minimum in absolute value: -0.01 ppb; both for 10 min means). Since those
corrections are quite small, for this period relying on the generic factory
H2O corrections would have been sufficient.
Time series of daily-nighttime (12 h averages) CRDS measurements
(CO2, CH4 and CO).
Target gas injections
Table 6 summarizes the statistics for the target gas injections (30 s mean
assignments), whereas Fig. 14 shows the time series of mole fraction
assignments for one of the target gases. The results are good. Note that
30 s is too short a time for CO, and it is necessary to consider longer
averages to reduce noise. The ambient processing scheme described in
Sect. 6.1 is also used to assign mole fractions to the target and calibration
gas injections, and it is checked that the water vapor correction for them is
smaller than 0.01 ppm for CO2, and 0.1 ppb for CH4 and CO.
Monthly-mean differences between the daily-nighttime CRDS
measurements and those for the rest of the mentioned IZO instruments (Li7000
NDIR for CO2, Varian GC-FID for CH4, and RGA-3 GC-RGD for
CO).
CO2 CRDS -CH4 CRDS -CO CRDS -YearMonthCO2 Li7000 (ppm)CH4 VarianFID (ppb)CO RGA3 (ppb)Full period -0.071.2-2.8201511-0.081.6-0.4201512-0.040.9-1.120161-0.031.0-1.320162-0.081.0-1.820163-0.070.3-2.420164-0.06-0.1-2.720165-0.020.2-2.920166-0.030.9-3.0201670.001.1-3.2201680.051.9-2.920169-0.102.0-3.1201610-0.123.3-4.1201611-0.153.1-3.0201612-0.070.5-3.720171-0.091.1-3.020172-0.142.1-3.320173-0.110.5-3.620174-0.080.4-2.720175–0.3-3.4Comparison with other continuous measurements carried out at
Izaña
In this subsection, we compare the CRDS IZO ambient daily-nighttime (from
20:00 UTC of the previous day till 08:00 of the considered day) means with
the co-located hourly means from the IZO Li7000 NDIR for CO2
(Gomez-Pelaez et al., 2011, 2014, 2016), IZO Varian GC-FID for CH4
(Gomez-Pelaez et al., 2011, 2012, 2016), and IZO RGA-3 GC-RGD for CO
(Gomez-Pelaez et al., 2013, 2016), all of them in the scales already
indicated in Sect. 4. We use daily-nighttime means for the comparison because
(1) as mentioned in the introduction, IZO has background conditions during
nighttime; and (2) when using 12 h averages, we improve the signal-to-noise
ratio and remove any hypothetical dependence on the used IZO general inlet
due to small inhomogeneities in space and time of the mole fraction fields.
Note that the data for 2017 are still not final. Figure 15 shows the time
series of daily-nighttime CRDS measurements, whereas Table 7 shows the
monthly-mean differences between the daily-nighttime CRDS measurements and
those for the rest of the mentioned IZO instruments. As Table 7 shows, for
CO2 and CH4 the differences between the instruments are
within the GAW compatibility objectives (0.1 ppm for CO2 and 2 ppb
for CH4), except for 4 months for the former and 3 months for the
latter (coincident with those for CO2). The larger differences took
place in October and November 2016. We think they were produced by a small
leak in the general inlet used by the CRDS (the NDIR and the GC-FID used
another general inlet). However, for CO the difference between the
instruments is larger than 2 ppb after March 2016. The WMO tertiary
standards used in the RGA-3 have been calibrated two times by the WMO CCL and
the inferred drifts were considered significant, extrapolated forward in
time, and taken into account in the RGA-3 data processing. These results seem
to support the hypothesis that the observed negative differences are
explained by the fact that the CRDS laboratory standards (WMO tertiaries)
might be drifting up significantly for CO (see Sect. 4).
The rms residual of the fit (red dots/line), and difference between
the assigned mole fraction to a target gas and the mean mole fraction of such
a target gas (a different color is used for each target gas), for each
species and mole-fraction calibration performed using four WMO laboratory
standards (every 3 or 4 weeks), after taking into account the drift rates of
the CRDS standards.
Preliminary independent assessment on the drift rates of the CRDS CO
standards
The evidence presented in Sects. 4 and 6.3 seem to indicate the CRDS CO WMO
tertiary standards might be drifting significantly. These standards have been
calibrated only once by CCL: in August–September 2015. In order to perform a
preliminary independent assessment on the drift rates of the CRDS CO
standards, we have proceeded as follows. As mentioned in Sect. 6.3, the WMO
tertiary standards used in the RGA-3 have been calibrated twice (9 years
distant) by the WMO CO CCL and the inferred drifts were considered
significant and extrapolated forward in time. We have performed a four-cycle
calibration in the CRDS to compare the CRDS standards (CB11240, CB11389,
CB11393, and CB11340) and the RGA-3 standards (CA06968, CA06768, CA06988,
CA06946, and CA06978). The first step has been assigning CO2 and
CH4 mole fractions to the RGA-3 standards using the calibration
curves obtained using the CRDS standards. The second step has been assigning
CO mole fractions to the CRDS standards using the calibration curve obtained
using the RGA-3 standards, whose fit rms residual is 0.4 ppb. In the third
step, we determined the drift rate of each CRDS standards using the CCL
assignment done in 2015 and the present assignment (done on 4 October 2017),
which is indirectly traceable to the WMO primaries. The CB11240 standard is
the only one with a significant drift rate, 1.21 ppb year-1, with
195.87 ppb at present. The other three standards all have positive drift
rates, with the maximum being 0.17 ppb year-1. We have performed the
exercise of reprocessing all the CRDS calibrations taking into account the
drift rates determined for the four CRDS standards (even those which are not
statistically significant), as shown in Fig. 16. Comparing Fig. 16 with
Fig. 7c, we see now that there is no trend in the rms residual from the
calibration fit, and the downward drift of the target gases is significantly
smaller. However, when reprocessing the CRDS ambient CO time series, the
maximum improvement in the CRDS minus RGA-3 monthly difference time series is
0.3 ppb for some periods, remaining unchanged the global mean difference for
the full period. Therefore, we infer the performance of the calibrations
improves largely when taking into account the quite significant drift in the
standard CB11240, but the CRDS vs. RGA-3 ambient differences remain almost
unchanged. Perhaps, a possible explanation might be in the problems detected
recently by the CCL in the CO WMO-X2014A scale
(https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccl/co_scale_update.html, last access:
26 March 2019).
Summary and conclusions
At the end of 2015, a CO2/CH4/CO CRDS was installed at the
Izaña Global GAW station to improve the Izaña GHG GAW Measurement
Programme and guarantee its long-term maintenance. The CRDS passed the
acceptance tests. However, a correction for CO2 that takes into
account the inlet pressure had to be incorporated in order to achieve a rms
residual of around 0.02 ppm, which is the value we obtain with the IZO
NDIR-based measurement systems. For CO, our data processing is based on the
raw spectral peak data instead of on the raw CO provided by the instrument.
The relationships between flow rate, CRDS inlet pressure, and CRDS outlet
valve aperture have been determined also. The CRDS inlet pressure sensitivity
is determined for the different compounds as well as its stability over the
years.
We use linear response functions for CH4 and CO, and a quadratic
response function for CO2. The CRDS long-term drift of the raw
responses is 0.104 ppm year-1 for CO2, 2.22 ppb year-1
for CH4, and 0.544 ppb year-1 for CO. Assuming that those
drifts are due to drifts in the real pressure and temperature of the cavity,
we have determined that our CRDS has a long-term drift of
0.0678 ∘C year-1 and 0.595 hPa year-1 in the cavity
sensors using relations between partial derivatives. We also show the
evolution in time of the response-function local slopes at the mole fractions
of the virtual tank, as well as the rms residual in the calibration fits,
which has no significant trend except for CO.
The time series of target gas assignments during calibrations are also shown,
which again indicate a good behavior for CO2 and CH4 but a
downward drift for CO. Those facts suggest the CRDS CO WMO tertiary standards
are probably drifting significantly in spite of the fact that they have only
been used during 2 years. Using an independent set of CO laboratory standards
whose drift rates have been determined by the CO CCL, we conclude that one of
the CRDS standards is drifting quite significantly (1.21 ppb year-1).
The performance in the calibrations improves when taking that drift into
account.
The results of the long water-droplet test (12 h) have been presented and
used for the H2O water vapor correction. The determination of the
H2O correction for CO presents two novelties: use of the raw spectral
peak data and use of a running mean to smooth random noise before performing
the least square fit.
We have presented the ambient measurement scheme and its data processing.
Target gas injections show very small standard deviations except for CO. The
agreement with other IZO in situ continuous measurements is good most of the
time for CO2 and CH4, but for CO is just outside the GAW
2 ppb objective. It seems the disagreement is not produced by the drifts in
the CRDS CO WMO tertiary standards. The mean differences for the full period
are -0.07 ppm for CO2, 1.2 ppb for CH4, and -2.8 ppb
for CO.
We have determined and discussed the physical origin of the inlet pressure
and H2O dependences of the CRDS flow, and pointed out the existence
of flow-rate-dependent small spatial inhomogeneities in the pressure and
temperature fields inside the cavity. We have shown that the regions slightly
depleted in pressure inside the CRDS cavity in the neighborhood of the inlet
and outlet pipes, due to the cross-sectional change, are probably the cause
of the slight CO2 correction associated with the mass flow rate we
have empirically obtained. We suggest performing a gas dynamic numerical
simulation of the pressure and temperature fields inside the CRDS cavity for
different flow rates. This could help to improve the spectral forward model
used by the CRDS and also to take into account more accurately the impact of
the flow rate on the measurements. Furthermore, the use of conical adapters
for connecting the pipes to the CRDS cavity might keep the pressure gradients
associated with the cross-sectional changes out of the laser path.
Code and data availability
The Fortran 90 codes developed in this work could be
made available to other researchers under a cooperative agreement with the
Izaña Atmospheric Research Centre (AEMET). However, a very limited
support on their use could be provided.
The data presented in this paper is available under request. If the supplied
data is intended to be used in a scientific article, co-authorship should be
offered to data providers.
A note concerning the H2O dependence of the CRDS flow and the
spatial inhomogeneity of the pressure field inside the cavity
The theoretical equation relating the standard volumetric flow (F) to the
inlet quantities for a choked flow is presented and discussed in Sect. 2.4.
However, additionally to the dependences on pressure and temperature, there
is also a small dependence on the water vapor mole fraction through the ratio
of specific heats and the gas constant, which depend slightly on the
H2O mole fraction as follows:
1R=1-rRd+rRH2O,
where r is the H2O mole fraction in mol mol-1, Rd
is the gas constant for dry air, and RH2O is the gas constant
for H2O;
γ=1.4+0.4⋅r1+0.4⋅r.
In order to estimate the relative impact of water vapor changes on the
standard volumetric flow, we need to know approximately the values of
Cd and A. To this end, we use this fact obtained from Table 3,
when pi is 700 hPa, F is 150 scc min-1, and obtain using
Eq. (2) that the product of Cd and A is equal to 1.955×10-8 m2. Figure A1 shows F and its derivative (with respect to
r) as functions of r, for pi=700 hPa and Ti=293 K, showing that the relative impact of r on F is small and the
derivative is quite constant for the considered r range (0.00–0.05).
Standard volumetric flow (F) on the left y axis and its
derivative with respect to r (H2O mole fraction in mol mol-1)
on the right y axis, for pi=700 hPa and Ti=293 K.
When there is a stationary air flow through an instrument, the pressure field
changes spatially mainly for two reasons (Bernoulli equation):
(1) longitudinal decrease in the pressure due to viscosity, and (2) changes
in the cross section along the pipe, which require flow acceleration
(provided by a longitudinal pressure gradient) when the cross section
decreases and flow deceleration when the cross section increases (e.g.,
Venturi effect). The structure of the optical cavity of the CRDS G2401 is
shown in Fig. 1 of Crosson (2008). The plane defined by the three mirrors
inside the cavity is horizontal (parallel to the surface of the Earth when
the instrument is set on its feet on a bench). The inlet and outlet cavity
ports are on the top of the cavity. The pressure sensor is on a third port
located on the top of the cavity, at the approximate center (Chris Rella,
personal communication, 2017). Applying considerations of fluid dynamics, we
infer the following facts. First, along the sense of flow inside the cavity,
there needs to be a very small decrease in pressure in order to be able to
balance the resistance to flow due to viscosity, and that decrease will be
larger as the mass flow rate is increased. Since the pressure sensor is
located in the middle of the cavity, the mean pressure will be monitored. A
parcel of fluid flowing along the cavity will expand very slightly (due to
the decrease in pressure that the Lagrangian parcel experiences), and
therefore, the temperature will tend to slightly decrease adiabatically in
all the points of the volume, whereas the heat to compensate it comes from
the surface of the cavity. That is, necessarily there needs to also be a
small inhomogeneity in the temperature field inside the cavity, and this
inhomogeneity depends on the flow rate. The hypothetical net effect on the
measurements is difficult to assess a priori without performing a gas
dynamics numerical simulation. Second, when a fluid parcel leaves the inlet
pipe and enters into the cavity, it experiences a large change in the cross
section of the solid material that contents the flow. Therefore, there needs
to be a portion of cavity near the inlet with pressure increasing in the flow
sense to decrease and accommodate the velocity of the fluid. That is, in the
cavity near the inlet, there is a pressure smaller than in the rest of the
cavity. Moreover, the opposite process happens in the cavity near the outlet:
the fluid needs to be accelerated, and therefore, there needs to be a portion
of cavity near the outlet with pressure decreasing in the flow sense. That
is, in the cavity near the outlet, there is a smaller pressure than in the
rest of the cavity, as happens near the inlet, and this decrease is larger
when the mass flow rate is increased. If any portion of those two regions is
crosses by the laser path, the perturbation this produces in the measurements
agrees in sign with Eq. (3). Therefore, this might be the explanation of the
empirically observed effect described in Sect. 3.1.
All the effects pointed out in this Appendix are new in the GHG measurement
literature according to the knowledge of the authors.
CO2ovc_raw vs. hr during the water-droplet experiment
CO2ovc_raw vs. hr during the water-droplet
experiment (in blue) and the least-square fitted curve (in black), where only
the 0.0–1.55 hr range has been plotted.
Some additional novelties in the Izaña GHG instrumentation
since GGMT-2015
We have introduced the following improvements in the dedicated inlet lines of
the IZO GHG measurement systems since GGMT-2015: (1) backpressure regulators
for the vents located downstream of the pumps, and rotameters for those
vents; (2) needle valves in low flow vents installed downstream of the
cryotraps; (3) glass flask cryotraps with Ultra-Torr connections; and
(4) hermetic plugs for unused ports of the rotary Valco valves.
We have prepared two CO2
laboratory standards of 418.7 ppm for Izaña NDIRs Li7000 and Li6252
(using two cylinders that have proved to be very stable in previous uses as
CO2 working standards), and calibrated them against our CRDS WMO
laboratory standards using the G2401 CRDS.
We have reprocessed the Izaña time series of CH4 and CO in scales
X2004A and X2014A, respectively, also taking into account the drift of the
five WMO laboratory standards used in Izaña RGA-3.
Author contributions
AJGP designed the measurement
system, measurement scheme, and response functions, performed the CRDS
acceptance tests, configured the CRDS, determined the relationships between
flow rate, OV, and CRDS inlet pressure, as well as its impact in the CRDS
measurements, performed the H2O droplet tests, wrote the numerical
codes, analyzed the data, made the study of Appendix A, wrote the manuscript,
and drew the plots. RR installed the measurement system, helped in the
routine operation of the system, revised the manuscript, and performed the
additional inlet pressure sensitivity tests carried out in 2018. EC was the
PI of the financed R+D infrastructure project by which the CRDS equipment
could be purchased and installed at IZO, and revised in detail the
manuscript. VGT performed the routine calibrations, and helped perform the
additional inlet pressure sensitivity tests carried out in 2018. ER provided
support configuring the CRDS computer, prepared the external media necessary
to perform daily copies of the acquired data, and revised the manuscript.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
Special issue statement
This article is part of the special issue “The 10th
International Carbon Dioxide Conference (ICDC10) and the 19th WMO/IAEA
Meeting on Carbon Dioxide, other Greenhouse Gases and Related Measurement
Techniques (GGMT-2017) (AMT/ACP/BG/CP/ESD inter-journal SI)”. It is a result
of the 19th WMO/IAEA Meeting on Carbon Dioxide, Other Greenhouse Gases, and
Related Measurement Techniques (GGMT-2017), Empa Dübendorf, Switzerland,
27–31 August 2017.
Acknowledgements
The acquisition of the instrument was largely
financed by European ERDF funds through Spanish R+D infrastructure project
AEDM15-BE-3319 of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y
Competitividad. This study was developed within the Global Atmospheric Watch
(GAW) Programme at the Izaña Atmospheric Research Centre, financed by
AEMET. We thank Chris Rella (Picarro, Inc., USA), Christoph Zellweger (EMPA,
Switzerland), and Olivier Laurent (ICOS ATC/LSCE, France) for providing
information of great interest about the Picarro G2401 CRDS, and to the
Izaña observatory staff. We acknowledge the constructive comments of the
anonymous referees.
Review statement
This paper was edited by Brigitte Buchmann and reviewed by
three anonymous referees.
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