Inspection of non-CO2 greenhouse gases from emission sources and in ambient air by Fourier-transform-infrared-spectrometry: Measurements with FTIS-MAPS

Abstract

Infrared spectrometry is a versatile basis to analyse greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. A multicomponent air pollution software (MAPS) was developed for retrieval of gas concentrations from radiation emission as well as absorption measurements. Concentrations of CO, CH4, N2O, and H2O as well as CO2, NO, NO2, NH3, SO2, HCl, HCHO, and the temperature of warm gases are determined on-line. The analyses of greenhouse gases in gaseous emission sources and in ambient air are performed by a mobile remote sensing system using the double-pendulum interferometer K300 of the Munich company Kayser-Threde. Passive radiation measurements are performed to retrieve CO, N2O, and H2O as well as CO2, NO, SO2, and HCl concentrations in smoke stack effluents of thermal power plants and municipal incinerators and CO and H2O as well as CO2 and NO in exhausts of aircraft engines. Open-path radiation measurements are used to determine greenhouse gas concentrations at different ambient air conditions and greenhouse gas emission rates of diffusive sources as garbage deposits, open coal mining, stock farming together with additional compounds (e.g. NH3), and from road traffic together with HCHO. Some results of measurements are shown. A future task is the verification of emission cadastres by these inspection measurements.