IRGA GAS SAMPLING SYSTEM DIMENSIONING: LABORATORY AND FIELD EXPERIMENTS

The gas sampling system (GSS), which carries air from the sampling point to the IRGA, is an essential component of the eddy covariance system. It has to meet several constraints, among which minimizing high frequency attenuation of concentration measurement and keeping pressure drop in the measurement cell in an acceptable range. Rain cup, filters, tubes and pumps are key elements of this system and need proper dimensioning. The elaboration of the ICOS protocol for IRGA required such dimensioning and optimization. Laboratory and field measurements were carried out with this aim. In the laboratory, a dynamic calibration bench was developed to investigate experimentally the pressure drop and the concentration fluctuation attenuation caused by different filters. In the field, three LI-7200 equipped with different GSS were installed and run at the Dorinne Terrestrial Observatory (ICOS-Belgium). Main experiment conclusions were that: • The shape and size of the rain cup has a critical impact on cut off frequencies • The filter porosity and size has a critical impact on pressure drop • Filter heating is necessary in order to avoid condensation and filter blocking These experiments led to the definition of the GSS functioning range that is finally proposed in the ICOS IRGA protocol

Nitrous oxide emissions using quantum cascade laser spectrometry over a production crop: preliminary results

Amongst the greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide is recognized as having the greatest greenhouse forcing potential and as being the third in terms of radiative forcing. Agriculture is known to be the major anthropic emitter. This work is part of the FERTECOL project and its objective is to measure the emissions of nitrous oxide by a production crop with an eddy covariance system. The measurements extent over the growth period, cover a large range of climatic conditions and capture peak events associated with fertilization. The measurements, started in April 2013, are carried at the Lonzée Terrestrial Observatory (50°33'5.83"N- 4°44'46.22"E). On this year, the crop is planted with winter wheat. A Quantum Cascade Laser Absorption Spectrometer (QCLAS, GSMA, France) is used to measure nitrous oxide as well as water vapor and carbon dioxide at a frequency of 5 hertz. The fluxes are computed using the Eddy Covariance technique adapting standards quality and corrections procedures set up for CO2 fluxes to N2O. Standard meteorological measurements are performed in parallel. The analysis will present response of the fluxes to environmental variables as well as to fertilization events during the season

IRGA gas sampling system dimensioning: laboratory and field experiments

International audienceThe gas sampling system (GSS), which carries air from the sampling point to the IRGA, is an essential component of the eddy covariance system. It has to meet several constraints, among which minimizing high frequency attenuation of concentration measurement and keeping pressure drop in the measurement cell in an acceptable range. Rain cup, filters, tubes and pumps are key elements of this system and need proper dimensioning. The elaboration of the ICOS protocol for IRGA required such dimensioning and optimization. Laboratory and field measurements were carried out with this aim. In the laboratory, a dynamic calibration bench was developed to investigate experimentally the pressure drop and the concentration fluctuation attenuation caused by different filters. In the field, three LI-7200 equipped with different GSS were installed and run at the Dorinne Terrestrial Observatory (ICOS-Belgium)

IRGA gas sampling system dimensioning: laboratory and field experiments

The gas sampling system (GSS), which carries air from the sampling point to the IRGA, is an essential component of the eddy covariance system. It has to meet several constraints, among which minimizing high frequency attenuation of concentration measurement and keeping pressure drop in the measurement cell in an acceptable range. Rain cup, filters, tubes and pumps are key elements of this system and need proper dimensioning. The elaboration of the ICOS protocol for IRGA required such dimensioning and optimization. Laboratory and field measurements were carried out with this aim. In the laboratory, a dynamic calibration bench was developed to investigate experimentally the pressure drop and the concentration fluctuation attenuation caused by different filters. In the field, three LI-7200 equipped with different GSS were installed and run at the Dorinne Terrestrial Observatory (ICOS-Belgium)

Atmospheric Measurements by Ultra-Light SpEctrometer (AMULSE) Dedicated to Vertical Profile in Situ Measurements of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Under Weather Balloons: Instrumental Development and Field Application

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

Mesures des flux in situ de gaz à effet de serre (N2O, CO2, H2O …) avec la station ECoFlux (Eddy Covariance Flux

La concentration atmosphérique en gaz à effet de serre, responsable du réchauffement du climat, ne cesse d'augmenter depuis le début de l'ère industrielle. Les hypothèses médianes du groupe international d'experts sur le changement climatique (IPCC) prédisent un doublement de la concentration en dioxyde de carbone (CO2) avant la fin de ce siècle. De plus, la concentration d'autres gaz à effet de serre au pouvoir radiatif supérieur à celui du CO2 augmente, comme par exemple le méthane (CH4) et le protoxyde d’azote (N2O). Le N2O présente un potentiel de réchauffement d’environ 310 fois plus élevé que celui du CO2 avec une durée de vie de 120 à 150 ans. Son augmentation actuelle de 0.3% par an de sa concentration est imputable à l’activité anthropique incluant des processus industriels via l’utilisation de solvants mais surtout aux activités agricoles pour environ 70% via des processus biologiques de nitrification et dénitrification se produisant dans les sols. Afin de mieux comprendre l’effet des pratiques agricoles sur les échanges gazeux entre les sols et l’atmosphère, il faut quantifier les flux réels en fonction des différents types de sols, de pratiques culturales, de climats et d’écosystèmes. La limite actuelle de mesure de ces flux (notamment pour le N2O) réside dans la mauvaise sensibilité et stabilité des instruments de mesure en conditions de terrain. Depuis peu le GSMA (Groupe de Spectroscopie Moléculaire et Atmosphérique) a mis au point une station nommée ECoFlux (Eddy Covariance Flux) utilisant un senseur innovant reposant sur la spectrométrie laser infrarouge. Il permet de déterminer simultanément les flux in situ de N2O, CO2 et H2O par la méthode de covariance. Après une présentation du principe de la station ECoFlux, nous exposerons les résultats de deux campagnes de mesure sur des sites « grandes cultures » de suivi de gaz à effet de serre appartenant au réseau ICOS (http://www.icos-infrastructure.eu/). Nous terminerons en développant les intérêts et les modalités du déploiement de cette station sur site viticol

The development of the Atmospheric Measurements by Ultra-Light Spectrometer (AMULSE) greenhouse gas profiling system and application for satellite retrieval validation

International audienceWe report in this paper the development of an embedded ultralight spectrometer (<3 kg) based on tuneable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (with a sampling rate of 24 Hz) in the mid-infrared spectral region. This instrument is dedicated to in situ measurements of the vertical profile concentrations of three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and water vapour (H2O) – via standard weather and tethered balloons. The plug and play instrument is compact, robust, cost-effective, and autonomous. The instrument also has low power consumption and is non-intrusive.It was first calibrated during an in situ experiment on an ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) site for several days, then used in two experiments with several balloon flights of up to 30 km altitude in the Reims region of France in 2017–2018 in collaboration with Météo-France CNRM (Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques).This paper shows the valuable interest of the data measured by the AMULSE (Atmospheric Measurements by Ultra-Light Spectrometer) instrument during the APOGEE (Atmospheric Profiles of Greenhouse Gases) measurement experiment, specifically for the vertical profiles of CO2 and CH4, measurements of which remain very sparse. We have carried out several experiments showing that the measured profiles have several applications: the validation of simulations of infrared satellite observations, evaluating the quality of chemical profiles from chemistry transport models (CTMs) and evaluating the quality of retrieved chemical profiles from the assimilation of infrared satellite observations. The results show that the simulations of infrared satellite observations from IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) and CrIS (Cross-track Infrared Sounder) instruments performed in operational mode for numerical weather prediction (NWP) by the radiative transfer model (RTM) RTTOV (Radiative Transfer for the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder) are of good quality. We also show that the MOCAGE (Modèle de Chimie Atmosphérique de Grande Echelle) and CAMS (Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service) CTMs modelled ozone profiles fairly accurately and that the CAMS CTM represents the methane in the troposphere well compared to MOCAGE. Finally, the measured in situ ozone profiles allowed us to show the good quality of the retrieved ozone profiles by assimilating ozone-sensitive infrared spectral radiances from the IASI and CrIS