Concentration and isotopic measurements of radiatively important gases in the southern atmosphere

• Other Authors: STEELE, PAUL (hasPrincipalInvestigator), KRUMMEL, PAUL (processor), LANGENFELDS, RAY (processor), CSIRO (originator), Australian Antarctic Data Centre (publisher)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Australian Antarctic Data Centre
• Subjects: climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere; TRACE GASES/TRACE SPECIES; EARTH SCIENCE; ATMOSPHERE; ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY; EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY > CARBON AND HYDROCARBON COMPOUNDS > ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE; ATMOSPHERIC CARBON MONOXIDE; METHANE; CARBON AND HYDROCARBON COMPOUNDS; NITROUS OXIDE; NITROGEN COMPOUNDS; MOLECULAR OXYGEN; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; CARBON DIOXIDE; CARBON ISOTOPES; CARBON MONOXIDE; CH4; CO; CO2; FLASK; GREENHOUSE GASES; H; HYDROGEN; NO; O; OXYGEN; FLASKS; GAS CHROMATOGRAPHS; FIELD SURVEYS; GROUND STATIONS; LABORATORY; CONTINENT > AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND > AUSTRALIA; OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > MACQUARIE ISLAND; ANTARCTICA; GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR; SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE; Antarctic; Grim; New Zealand; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Australian Antarctic Division; Macquarie Island
• Online Access: https://researchdata.edu.au/concentration-isotopic-measurements-southern-atmosphere/700804; https://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/CSIRO_AR_GASLAB

Australian Antarctic Division project #124 monitors the background level of major greenhouse gases, and related species (carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide isotopes, oxygen), at a number of Antarctic sites. Samples of air are collected and returned to CSIRO Atmospheric Research for analysis. Radiocarbon and oxygen are measured by international collaborators. Approximately 4 samples are collected from each station per month. The greenhouse gases released by human activity and most implicated in global climate change, are long lived and well mixed in the atmosphere. The Antarctic regions, remote from industrial and land plant activity are ideally located to measure result of global changes in the gases. The CSIRO sampling network represents the most comprehensive, long running Southern hemisphere program. With continuing innovation in measurement and interpretive models, it is ideally positioned to detect possible climate induced regional changes in carbon uptake, as well as monitor global changes. It also provides essential background information to the new challenge of monitoring integrated emissions from the Australian continent. Data from this project have also been incorporated into State of the Environment Indicator 11, Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gas species. See the link below for further details. The download file contains both the individual flask data measurements and also monthly means derived from these. The monthly mean data are presented in the State Of Environment indicator linked below. The monthly mean files are labelled sss_mm.xxx where sss is the site code and xxx is the species identifier. An example for Cape Grim for Methane would be cga_mm.ch4. A number of readme files are also provided in the download for further information. Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: Concentrations of CO2, CO, CH4, H2, and N2O, and the isotopes 13C and 18O in CO2, have been made in flask air samples collected at ~2 week intervals at Mawson, Casey, and Macquarie Island. In addition, at Macquarie Island, continuous CO2 measurements and sampling for the O2/N2 ratio and the 14C isotope of CO2 were made. The data have been calibrated and quality controlled for incorporation into global data sets, for use in detecting spatial and temporal trends and in model inversions to infer fluxes.