Abstract
A new chemiluminescent sonde for the balloon-borne measurement of nitric oxide has been developed. Air is drawn through the reaction chamber by a constant volume pump with a volume flow rate of approximately 300 l/min essentially independent of the altitude, and mixed with ozone, generated on board by silent discharge from pure oxygen. The flow of the ozone/oxygen mixture is regulated at a constant flow rate of 400 STP cm3/min by a mass flow controller. To calibrate the system sensitivity periodically in flight, NO in N2 gas, with a concentration of 2 ppm, is injected at the inlet tube with flow rates of 9 and 18 STP cm3/min controlled also by a mass flow controller. Teflon coated internal surfaces have allowed the instrument to have a quick response and this has led to reliable measurements of NO at low mixing ratios. The overall accuracy in determining the NO mixing ratio is between 5% and 10% depending on the altitude, and the detection limit is 10–20 ppt.
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