ofCO2,CH4,N2O,SF6andCO.PDFVIP

Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., 2, 1321–1349, 2009 /2/1321/2009/ ? Author(s) 2009. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions is the access reviewed discussion forum of Atmospheric Measurement Techniques A single gas chromatograph for accurate atmospheric mixing ratio measurements of CO2, CH4, N2O, SF6 and CO S. van der Laan, R. E. M. Neubert, and H. A. J. Meijer Centre for Isotope Research, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands Received: 15 April 2009 – Accepted: 8 May 2009 – Published: 18 May 2009 Correspondence to: S. van der Laan (s.van.der.laan@rug.nl) Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 1321 AMTD 2, 1321–1349, 2009 Single gas chromatograph for measuring CO2, CH4, N2O, SF6 and CO S. van der Laan et al. Title Page Abstract Introduction Conclusions References Tables Figures Back Close Full Screen / Esc Printer-friendly Version Interactive Discussion Abstract We present an adapted gas chromatograph capable of measuring simultaneously and semi-continuously the atmospheric mixing ratios of the greenhouse gases CO2, CH4, N2O and SF6 and the trace gas CO with high precision and long-term stability. The 5 novelty of our design is that all species are measured with only one device, making it a very cost-e?cient system. No time lags are introduced between the measured mixing ratios. The system is designed to operate fully autonomously which makes it ideal for measurements at remote and unmanned stations. Only a small amount of sample air is needed, which makes this system also highly suitable for ?ask air measurements. 10 In principle, only two reference cylinders are needed for daily operation and only one calibration per year against international WMO standards is su?cient to obtain high measurement precision and accuracy. The system described in this paper is in use since May 2006 at ou