Absolute Measurement of the Abundance of Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide C
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Absolute measurement of the abundance of atmospheric carbon monoxide C. Brenninkmeijer, C. Koeppel, T. Röckmann, D. Scharffe, Maya Bräunlich, Valerie Gros To cite this version: C. Brenninkmeijer, C. Koeppel, T. Röckmann, D. Scharffe, Maya Bräunlich, et al.. Absolute mea- surement of the abundance of atmospheric carbon monoxide. Journal of Geophysical Research: At- mospheres, American Geophysical Union, 2001, 106 (D9), pp.10003-10010. 10.1029/2000JD900342. hal-03117189 HAL Id: hal-03117189 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03117189 Submitted on 8 Feb 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 106, NO. D9, PAGES 10,003-10,010, MAY 16, 2001 Absolute measurement of the abundance of atmospheric carbon monoxide C. A.M. Brenninkmeijer,C. Koeppel,T. R6ckmann,D. S. Scharffe, Maya Br•iunlich,and Valerie Gros AtmosphericChemistry Division, Max PlanckInstitute for Chemistry,Mainz, Germany Abstract.The main aspects of anabsolute method for measurementof the mixing ratio of atmos- phericcarbon monoxide (CO) are presented. The method is based on cryogenic extraction of CO fromair afteroxidation to CO2followed by accuratevolumetric determination. Gravimetric meas- urementis usedto determinethe quantity of sampleair processed.In routineoperation the overall errorcan be kept below 1%. Furthermore, the results of a laboratoryintercomparison are analyzed. It is shownhow offsets in thecommonly applied analytical methods can occur and how these can seriouslyaffect results obtained at the low concentrationend (<100 nmole/mole). 1. Introduction Chartography(SCIAMACHY)). Validation of dataobtained by suchremote sensing instruments is important. Theneed to betterknow the budgetof CO is reflectedby the Relevantis alsothe question whether there have been gradual scaleof internationalefforts in measuringand modeling the distri- changesin OH [Crutzenand Zimmermann,1991; Krol et al., butionand interactionsof this ubiquitouschemically active trace 1998; Prinn et al., 1995]. For establishingthe causes,knowledge gas[Novelli, 1999; Sanhueza et al., 1997;Moxley and Srnit,1998; aboutchanges in CO and also CH4 of similarprecision is neces- Reichle et al., 1999; Connors et al., 1999; Bakwin et al., 1994; sary.The same applies to lnCO,for whichit maybe particularly Novelli et al., 1998b, and the special issue of Chemosphere: importantto have accurateobservations because of its uniquepo- GlobalChange Science, September1999, 28 furtherpapers]. Be- tential as a long term diagnosticfor changesthe oxidativecapacity ing themain reaction partner of hydroxyl(OH), changesin CO af- of the atmosphere.Although one may never be able to model at- fect OH and vice versa. Because of the central role of OH in the mosphericCO (or laCO for that matter) with such a highdegree of chemistryof the atmosphere,CO is an importanttrace gas. confidencethat changesof the order of 1% would matter,there is Closelyrelated to the cycleof CO is thatof lnCO,which no doubt that it would be unwise not to have accurate information sharesthe same sinks, namely OH and soils. Given that the major atpresent. Even though it seemsthat an accuracy of 1%is feasi- originofthe inc in laCO is cosmogenic, andtherefore independent ble,there have been serious problems. ofthe sources ofCO itself, lnCO is of interest, even though it pre- Mostof thetechniques formeasuring COare described by sentsonly a verysmall fraction of troposphericCO rangingbe- Novelli[1999]. The analysis of COis almost exclusively based on tween10'•l and10 -12. This is equivalent toonly about 5 to 20 relativemethods, thatis the comparison withstandard mixtures of moleculespercm 3air STP. Nonetheless, lnCOis a uniqueuseful CO, and the procuring and maintaining oftraceable standards is tracerfor diagnosing OH distribution, large-scale hemispheric cir- difficultat times. Since the discovery of large differences between culation,and fluxes from the stratosphere into the troposphere CO calibration scales used by different laboratories [Novelli et al., [Volzet al., 1981;Brenninkrneijer, 1993; Brenninkrneijer and 1991],good progress in standardization hasbeen made [Novelli et ROckmann,1998; Brenninkrneijer et al., 1992;Mak and Southon, al., 1994;1998a]. Primary gravimetric standard mixtures have 1998;JOckel et al.;2000, Quay et al.,2000]. Because determina- been prepared and standards were prepared for laboratoryinter- tionof the abundance of•4CO isbased onthat of CO, the ability to comparison.[Novelli et al., 1994].Two intercomparions have makeaccurate and precise observation ofCO is of direct relevance been organized by NationalOceanic and AtmosphericAdmini- forlnCO applications. stration/ClimateMonitoring and DiagnosticsLaboratory Of importanceishow frequently, how precisely, and how ac- (NOAA/CMDL),in 1994and 1999. These "ring tests" enable di- curatelyatmospheric CO shouldbe measured.The question of rectcomparison and allow the various laboratories to systemati- frequencyand precision islinked to the variability ofCO which is callyfollow and diagnose drifts in COstandards. This paper dis- dominatedby its lifetime and influencedby localized sources. cusses an absolute method for the determination of CO. Its results Generallythe requirementsare not as high as for CO2, CH4, and differ significantlyfrom those of severalother laboratoriesin the N20, and a 1% precisionis consideredadequate. The accuracy 50 to 100 nmole/molerange, and the possiblereasons will be dis- with whichone hasto knowthe mixingratio of CO is ratherfun- cussed. damentalbecause of the long term atmosphericchanges. Besides the analysisof samplesof air on site or in the laboratory,remote sensingviasatellite borne optical detectors israpidly gaining im- 2. ExperimentalMethods portance(e.g. Measurementof Air Pollutionfrom Space(MAPS), Measurementof Pollution in theTroposphere (MOPITT), and 2.1. ExtractionSystem ScanningImaging Absorption Spectrometerfor Atmospheric The techniqueof Stevens[Stevens and Krout, 1972] for the Copyright2001by the American Geophysical Union. isotopicanalysis ofCO is used. In essence, CO2 is removed from air, after which the CO contentis oxidizedand subsequentlycol- Papernumber 2000JD900342. lectedas CO2. The mixing ratio of CO is obtainedby determining 0148-0227/01/2000JD900342509.00 the mole fraction of CO2. The system(Figure 1) is an improved 10,003 10,004 BRENNINKMEIJER ET AL.: ABSOLUTE CO MEASUREMENT Lab air PMST PIR DF MAN SB CAG RDT1 RDT2 VENT DP TV Figure 1. The CO extractionsystem. The following abbreviationswere used:ZAG, zero gas generator;CAG, calibrationgas; PR, pressureregulator; MFC, massflow controller;RDT, Russiandoll trap; SR, Schatzereactor; COT, collectiontrap; H, heater;DP, diaphragmpump; PMST, purge molecularsieve trap; DF, drying finger; MAN, manometer;PT, pressuretransducer; SB, samplebottle; PIR, Piranivacuum gauge; HV, high vacuumpump stand;BV, buffer volume;TV, throttlevalve; BGM, bellowsgas meter. versionof a predecessor[Brenninkmeo'er, 1993]. The main prop- min afterwhich the air is shuntedthrough the Schiitzereactor. The erties of the CO extractionprocedure are as follows: (1) It is an systemis flushedfor 10 min and the collectiontrap cooled.After absolutemethod in which the CO is quantitativelyextracted; (2) it 1 min, the glassfiber thimbleshave reachedliquid nitrogentem- is an integratingmethod, which implies that by increasingthe perature,and sample collection of CO2 commences.The integrator samplesize throughprocessing more air, the signal-to-noiseratio of the flow controlleris initialized,and the gasmeter readings are improves;and (3) the methodhas a low detectionlimit in the sub- recorded.Subsequently, the flow is increasedto 5 L min'• upon nmole/molerange. whichthe pressureincreases to 180 hPa.This is the highestpossi- Theflow of sampleair (5 L min-• STP)is regulatedwith a ble pressurefor optimizingthe residencetime of CO moleculesin thermal massflow controller(Hastings type HFC-202F). Con- the Schiitzereactor without freezing out oxygenin the traps. densablecompounds are removedby two ultra efficientRussian After processing350 to 400 1 of air the flow is throttledto 1.5 Doll trapssubmerged in liquid nitrogen[Brenninkmeijer, 1991]. L min4 andterminated after 1 min.The bypass isopened, and the Suchtraps consist of stainlesssteel cylinders incorporating three Schiitzereactor is isolated.The inlet valve of the collectiontrap is concentricborosilicate glass fiber thimbles.Cooling at the outlet closed.The processpump valve is closedat 5 hPa, and the valve of thesetraps is preventedby sheathedthermocouples heater ele- to high vacuumpumping stage (Pfeiffer molecular drag pump) is ments[Brenninkmeijer and Hemmingsen,1988]. After removalof openedto evacuatethe collectiontrap. Subsequently,the U tubeis all CO2, N20, and hydrocarbons(C3 and higher),CO is oxidized submergedin liquid nitrogen,its outlet valve is closed,and the to CO2in a reactor(kept at 35øC)filled with 0.8 I of Schatze's largedewar surrounding the collectiontrap is removed.During 5 reagent[Smiley, 1965], which consistsof acidifiedI2Os