Abstract
The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere plays an important role in the radiative effects in the Earth’s climate system. Therefore, it is crucial to increase the number of atmospheric observations in order to quantify the natural sinks and emission sources. We report in this paper the development of a new compact lightweight spectrometer (1.8 kg) called AMULSE based on near infrared laser technology at 2.04 µm coupled to a 6-m open-path multipass cell. The measurements were made using the Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy (WMS) technique and the spectrometer is hence dedicated to in situ measuring the vertical profiles of the CO2 at high precision levels (σAllan = 0.96 ppm in 1 s integration time (1σ)) and with high temporal/spatial resolution (1 Hz/5 m) using meteorological balloons. The instrument is compact, robust, cost-effective, fully autonomous, has low-power consumption, a non-intrusive probe and is plug & play. It was first calibrated and validated in the laboratory and then used for 17 successful flights up to 10 km altitude in the region Champagne—Ardenne, France in 2014. A rate of 100% of instrument recovery was validated due to the pre-localization prediction of the Météo—France based on the flight simulation software.
Highlights
Water vapor (H2 O), methane (CH4 ) and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) are major greenhouse gases (GHGs) with a strong impact on the climate
Since an increase in the atmospheric greenhouse gas distribution is crucial, we report in this paper the development of a lightweight instrument that complies with the requirements for a flight from weather balloons
We have developed optical sensors based on near-infrared absorption spectroscopy [8] which provide a compact, cost effective, fully autonomous, low-power and non-intrusive probe to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere using an open-path multipass cell
Summary
Water vapor (H2 O), methane (CH4 ) and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) are major greenhouse gases (GHGs) with a strong impact on the climate. Since an increase in the atmospheric greenhouse gas distribution is crucial, we report in this paper the development of a lightweight instrument that complies with the requirements for a flight from weather balloons This instrument is dedicated to in situ measurements of carbon dioxide up to 10 km altitude in order to study and understand the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) levels. To achieve higher precision measurements and a spatial resolution of a few meters in the vertical in situ concentrations profiles, one should combine balloons and diode-laser spectroscopy techniques To this end, we have developed optical sensors based on near-infrared absorption spectroscopy [8] which provide a compact, cost effective, fully autonomous, low-power and non-intrusive probe to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere using an open-path multipass cell
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