MAUNA LOA, Hawaii and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Climate
scientists from the University of Colorado and the University of New Mexico
studying the water cycle have successfully deployed a Picarro precision water
isotope analyzer at a remote monitoring station near the top of Mauna Loa,
Hawaii. Sampling water vapor at this extreme altitude (11,000 feet above sea
level) is notoriously difficult because the water concentration can drop as
low a few hundred parts per million. Yet the Picarro G1102-i, which utilizes
WS-CRDS (wavelength scanned cavity ring down spectroscopy), is directly
sampling the outside air at this location and providing simultaneous
measurement of both delta-D and delta-18O every ten seconds. The absolute
calibration is checked with liquid water standards every few hours, which
confirms that the instrument has virtually no drift over a six day period.
During this extended period the standard deviation of all measurements has
been 0.65 per mil for delta-D and 0.08 per mil for delta-18O -- levels of
absolute precision comparable to laboratory methods using an IRMS (isotope
ratio mass spectrometry) instrument.
Dr. David Noone of the University of Colorado explains, "While much
attention has been focused on the role of CO2 in driving global warming,
changes in the water cycle and the amount of water vapor in the air also have
a significant impact. Simply stated, we need more water field data, both
concentration and isotope ratios. But before the advent of portable isotope
analyzers, obtaining water isotope data from a remote site required capturing
samples and chemically processing these before separately analyzing them for
deuterium and oxygen-18 in two separate mass spectrometers. Until now, this
has precluded continuous real-time isotope monitoring." He notes that the
preliminary Mauna Loa data for delta-D and delta-18O are consistent with
expected values, and the high frequency variability seen with the G1102-i
reveals a richness in the isotope data that could only have bean dreamed of
only a few years ago.
Dr. Joe Galewsky, University of New Mexico Department of Earth and
Planetary Sciences, in an interview with Nature added, "Real time isotope
tracking could be a new way of detecting fundamental changes in Earth's
atmospheric circulation." He points out that Mauna Loa was the obvious place
to conduct the experiment because of its high elevation and its location in
the subtropics, which is influenced by both tropical and northerly atmospheric
currents.
Michael Woelk, CEO of Picarro states, "We recognize that continued
research and monitoring of GHGs (greenhouse gases) must occur on many fronts
before a complete picture, and ultimately a comprehensive solution, can be
developed. This will include a combination of both field and laboratory
studies. For this reason, we have designed all of our WS-CRDS gas and isotope
analyzers to deliver the same combination of high performance and automated
ease of use in both the laboratory and extremely demanding field settings. As
such, we are pleased to participate in this landmark study and gratified to
see the preliminary data validate our approach."
Picarro, Inc. is a privately held company dedicated to developing
instrumentation for the highest sensitivity, precision and accuracy
measurements of specific molecules of interest in environmental analyses,
process monitoring, and emissions control. The company is a leader in
wavelength scanned cavity ring down spectroscopy (WS-CRDS) technology with
eight exclusive licenses from Stanford University patents and nine of its own
on WS-CRDS extensions. Visit us at http://www.picarro.com.
Contact Information:
Iain Green, Director of Marketing, igreen@picarro.com, (408) 962-3942
SOURCE Picarro, Inc.
RELATED LINKS
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