Highest Performance Greenhouse Gas Analyzer Now Available at Pricepoint Optimized for Widespread Deployment and Use

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Gatos Research (LGR), the leading innovator of cavity-enhanced laser-based instrumentation for analyses of gases and liquids, today announced a significant price reduction for its new greenhouse gas (GHG) analyzer designed to deliver the highest level of precision, accuracy, and stability available.  The Greenhouse Gas Analyzer (model GGA-24EP) is the world’s most advanced instrument for simultaneous measurements of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O).

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"Accurate measurement of atmospheric gases that contribute to climate change is an imperative today.  Whether it's for objective quantification for cap and trade, carbon emissions, carbon sequestration, carbon tax and pricing or atmospheric studies, the need for effective measurement technology is more critical than ever," said Doug Baer, Ph.D., president of Los Gatos Research (www.LGRinc.com).  "The performance of our new GGA-24EP has been thoroughly validated at some of the world's most prestigious research laboratories in the United States, Europe and Asia.  Due to our improved manufacturing efficiencies, expanded operations and larger economies of scale, we can now make our new high-precision analyzers cost-affordable to a broad range of researchers and scientists everywhere."

LGR's new Greenhouse Gas Analyzer is simple to use and rugged for a wide variety of field and air quality studies, providing major advances over existing technology, including:

• Proprietary internal thermal control for ultra-stable measurements with unsurpassed precision, linearity, stability and drift
• The ability to accurately measure methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor at high speed and over an extremely wide range of mole fractions
• Guaranteed reliable measurements at concentrations more than 100 times greater than typical ambient levels
• Prices start at $24,950 (U.S.) for a complete system, a factor of two less than the price of competitive instruments ($45,000-$55,000) providing lower performance
• Performance validated at leading research labs and monitoring networks in the United States, Europe and Asia

"Observed atmospheric patterns of greenhouse gases are increasingly being used to infer emissions and removals of the gases," said Pieter Tans, Ph.D. and chief scientist, Earth System Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  "We need a large number of instruments that are robust, affordable, and do not require much expert supervision to maintain very high accuracy when deployed for long periods of time in the field."

"The scientific community welcomes new compact, robust and reliable instruments, especially if they're easy to operate remotely and moderately priced," said Martina Schmidt, Ph.D. and scientist, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE/IPSL). Instruments which will meet the high precision World Meteorological Organization (WMO) accuracy can help to strengthen greenhouse gas monitoring networks and improve our understanding of the global GHG balance."

Edward Dlugokencky, Ph.D., NOAA scientist and chair of the WMO/GAW Scientific Advisory Group on Greenhouse Gases, currently deploys LGR analyzers in a remote site in Siberia. "LGR's combination of high precision, robustness and simplicity has allowed us to make high quality methane measurements under extremely difficult environmental conditions for several years," Dlugokencky said.  "This new lower pricing should prove attractive to large-scale monitoring networks as well as researchers who have funding limitations but still require the highest performance available."

LGR’s new Enhanced Performance series of analyzers also includes the Isotopic Water Analyzer (D/H, 18O/16O) in both liquid and vapor), Carbon Dioxide Isotope Analyzer (CO2, 13C/12C, 18O/16O), Methane Isotope Analyzer (CH4, 13C/12C) and Water Vapor Isotope Analyzer (H2O, D/H, 18O/16O).  “Overall performance is our highest priority, but our ability to significantly reduce the cost lowers any barriers to effective, reliable and comprehensive monitoring,” said Baer. “The measurements we see from the field will allow for analysis of the most subtle changes in the environment and provide data necessary to make informed choices and policies.”  

ABOUT LOS GATOS RESEARCH
LGR (www.LGRinc.com) is the leading innovator of instrumentation for measurements of trace gases and isotopes based on cavity enhanced laser absorption spectroscopy techniques. LGR instruments have been deployed by scientists worldwide for ultra-precise measurements on all seven continents, unmanned aerial vehicles, mobile laboratories, research and commercial aircraft, and undersea.

SOURCE Los Gatos Research