Airborne measurements of CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes over the Alaskan North Slope using the Flux Observations of Carbon from an Airborne Laboratory (FOCAL) system.
The Flux Observations of Carbon from an Airborne Laboratory (FOCAL) project is a cooperative effort among the Anderson Group from Harvard University, Aurora Flight Sciences, and NOAA's Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (NOAA/ATDD) to add scientific instruments to a Diamond Aircraft...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
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U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Air Resources Laboratory, Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division.
2014
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Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.7289/v5/tm-oar-arl-267 https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/12208 |
Summary: | The Flux Observations of Carbon from an Airborne Laboratory (FOCAL) project is a cooperative effort among the Anderson Group from Harvard University, Aurora Flight Sciences, and NOAA's Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (NOAA/ATDD) to add scientific instruments to a Diamond Aircraft DA-42 Twin Star aircraft to measure fluxes of CO₂ and CH₄ in the planetary boundary layer. The work, funded by the National Science Foundation in 2012, uses the Anderson Group's Integrated Cavity-Output Spectroscopy (ICOS) instrument suite to measure concentrations and isotopologues of CO₂ and CH₄, NOAA/ATDD's Best Airborne Turbulence (BAT) probe to measure atmospheric turbulence in 3-dimensions, and Aurora Flight Sciences' DA-42 Twin Star aircraft to carry the complete instrument package. The DA- 42 collected 36.9 hours of research data based from Deadhorse Airport in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in August, 2013. A flight track was created to compare the CO₂ and CH₄ flux measurements made by instruments aboard the DA-42 against a groundbased tower which made simultaneous CO₂ and CH₄ flux measurements. Flight tracks were then expanded to measure fluxes far beyond the tower comparison area. Tracks were flown over inland melt-pond lakes and the Arctic Ocean to monitor CH₄ concentrations and fluxes, as well as to compare coincident measurements of bulk water-column and in-situ tundra flux measurements made by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Tracks were also flown to characterize the background CO₂ and CH₄ concentrations around the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. This report describes the NOAA/ATDD BAT probe instrumentation and the August 2013 Alaska flight campaign. |
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