High precision laser spectrometer for multiple greenhouse gas analysis in 1 mL air from ice core samples
The record of past global background atmospheric greenhouse gas composition is crucial for our understanding of global climate change. The ”Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice Core” project is currently pushing the frontier of this knowledge forward by the retrieval of an ice core reaching back to 1.5 million y...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-279 https://amt.copernicus.org/preprints/amt-2020-279/ |
id |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:amtd86947 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:amtd86947 2023-05-15T16:06:17+02:00 High precision laser spectrometer for multiple greenhouse gas analysis in 1 mL air from ice core samples Bereiter, Bernhard Tuzson, Béla Scheidegger, Philipp Kupferschmid, André Looser, Herbert Mächler, Lars Baggenstos, Daniel Schmitt, Jochen Fischer, Hubertus Emmenegger, Lukas 2020-08-14 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-279 https://amt.copernicus.org/preprints/amt-2020-279/ eng eng doi:10.5194/amt-2020-279 https://amt.copernicus.org/preprints/amt-2020-279/ eISSN: 1867-8548 Text 2020 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-279 2020-08-17T16:22:13Z The record of past global background atmospheric greenhouse gas composition is crucial for our understanding of global climate change. The ”Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice Core” project is currently pushing the frontier of this knowledge forward by the retrieval of an ice core reaching back to 1.5 million years ago. The oldest section of this core will have been strongly thinned by glacier flow with about 15 kyr being trapped in as little as 1m thickness of ice. This reduces the available sample volume to only a few mL of air for the targeted century-scale resolution of greenhouse gas records. Under these conditions, the required accuracy for multiple greenhouse gases cannot be achieved with currently available analytical methods. Here, we present a new approach to unlocking such challenging atmospheric archives with a high-precision mid-IR dual-laser direct absorption spectrometer. The instrument is designed to simultaneously measure CH 4 , N 2 O, CO 2 concentrations as well as δ 13 C(CO 2 ) using discrete samples of only 1 mL STP, and it achieves a precision of 1.6 ppb, 1.0 ppb, 0.03 ppm and 0.04 ‰, respectively. Repeated measurement cycles of air samples demonstrate an excellent accuracy level, and high reproducibility of the spectroscopic and the gas handling system. In addition, this non-invasive method allows reuse of the precious gas samples for further analysis, which opens new opportunities in ice core science. Text EPICA ice core Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
The record of past global background atmospheric greenhouse gas composition is crucial for our understanding of global climate change. The ”Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice Core” project is currently pushing the frontier of this knowledge forward by the retrieval of an ice core reaching back to 1.5 million years ago. The oldest section of this core will have been strongly thinned by glacier flow with about 15 kyr being trapped in as little as 1m thickness of ice. This reduces the available sample volume to only a few mL of air for the targeted century-scale resolution of greenhouse gas records. Under these conditions, the required accuracy for multiple greenhouse gases cannot be achieved with currently available analytical methods. Here, we present a new approach to unlocking such challenging atmospheric archives with a high-precision mid-IR dual-laser direct absorption spectrometer. The instrument is designed to simultaneously measure CH 4 , N 2 O, CO 2 concentrations as well as δ 13 C(CO 2 ) using discrete samples of only 1 mL STP, and it achieves a precision of 1.6 ppb, 1.0 ppb, 0.03 ppm and 0.04 ‰, respectively. Repeated measurement cycles of air samples demonstrate an excellent accuracy level, and high reproducibility of the spectroscopic and the gas handling system. In addition, this non-invasive method allows reuse of the precious gas samples for further analysis, which opens new opportunities in ice core science. |
format |
Text |
author |
Bereiter, Bernhard Tuzson, Béla Scheidegger, Philipp Kupferschmid, André Looser, Herbert Mächler, Lars Baggenstos, Daniel Schmitt, Jochen Fischer, Hubertus Emmenegger, Lukas |
spellingShingle |
Bereiter, Bernhard Tuzson, Béla Scheidegger, Philipp Kupferschmid, André Looser, Herbert Mächler, Lars Baggenstos, Daniel Schmitt, Jochen Fischer, Hubertus Emmenegger, Lukas High precision laser spectrometer for multiple greenhouse gas analysis in 1 mL air from ice core samples |
author_facet |
Bereiter, Bernhard Tuzson, Béla Scheidegger, Philipp Kupferschmid, André Looser, Herbert Mächler, Lars Baggenstos, Daniel Schmitt, Jochen Fischer, Hubertus Emmenegger, Lukas |
author_sort |
Bereiter, Bernhard |
title |
High precision laser spectrometer for multiple greenhouse gas analysis in 1 mL air from ice core samples |
title_short |
High precision laser spectrometer for multiple greenhouse gas analysis in 1 mL air from ice core samples |
title_full |
High precision laser spectrometer for multiple greenhouse gas analysis in 1 mL air from ice core samples |
title_fullStr |
High precision laser spectrometer for multiple greenhouse gas analysis in 1 mL air from ice core samples |
title_full_unstemmed |
High precision laser spectrometer for multiple greenhouse gas analysis in 1 mL air from ice core samples |
title_sort |
high precision laser spectrometer for multiple greenhouse gas analysis in 1 ml air from ice core samples |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-279 https://amt.copernicus.org/preprints/amt-2020-279/ |
genre |
EPICA ice core |
genre_facet |
EPICA ice core |
op_source |
eISSN: 1867-8548 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/amt-2020-279 https://amt.copernicus.org/preprints/amt-2020-279/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-279 |
_version_ |
1766402185779740672 |