Robust Spectrometer for Carbon Isotope Ratio Measurements

Improved measurement technology is needed to better characterize the exchange and transformation of carbon between the biosphere and the atmosphere. These measurements require highly accurate and precise instruments that are capable of providing isotopic abundances to discriminate between man-made and natural carbon sources. This project will employ cavity enhanced gas correlation spectroscopy to develop, deploy, and test a field-portable carbon dioxide isotope analyzer for the measurement of carbon isotope ratios in ambient air. The instrument will be capable of providing in situ, accurate quantification of both carbon dioxide concentration and carbon isotope ratio of carbon dioxide for the real-time monitoring of carbon dioxide sources and sinks in the biosphere and atmosphere. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: Field instrumentation based on cavity enhanced gas correlation spectroscopy (CE-GCS) will find numerous applications in atmospheric research, including airborne measurements of trace gases important in atmospheric and aerosol chemistry and as fluxmeters in atmospheric studies for measuring carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ammonia, or other gases including isotopes of some of these species