Issue 3, 2004

Two high-speed, portable GC systems designed for the measurement of non-methane hydrocarbons and PAN: Results from the Jungfraujoch High Altitude Observatory

Abstract

Near real-time measurements of light non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) have been performed in the free troposphere using two fast gas chromatography (GC) instruments designed for use on aircraft. A GC-helium ionisation detector (HID) system measured 15 C2–C5 hydrocarbons with 5 min time resolution and a dual channel GC-Electron Capture Detector (ECD) measured PAN with 90 s resolution. Both instruments had low parts per trillion by volume (pptV) detection limits and ran continuously at the remote Jungfraujoch (JFJ) research station in the Swiss Alps (46.55°N, 7.98°E), 3580 m above mean sea level (AMSL), during February/March 2003. Carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide and all odd nitrogen species (NOy) were also measured continuously. Hydrocarbons and CO were strongly correlated in all air-masses whilst PAN exhibited both positive and negative correlations with respect to O3, dependent on age and origin of the air-mass sampled. PAN was found to contribute ∼20% to the NOy sampled on average. The experiment, as well as providing interesting datasets from this remote location, also demonstrated that when optimised, GC techniques have the potential to measure at a time resolution significantly greater than is traditionally considered, with high sensitivity and low uncertainty.

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Aug 2003
Accepted
15 Jan 2004
First published
11 Feb 2004

J. Environ. Monit., 2004,6, 234-241

Two high-speed, portable GC systems designed for the measurement of non-methane hydrocarbons and PAN: Results from the Jungfraujoch High Altitude Observatory

L. K. Whalley, A. C. Lewis, J. B. McQuaid, R. M. Purvis, J. D. Lee, K. Stemmler, C. Zellweger and P. Ridgeon, J. Environ. Monit., 2004, 6, 234 DOI: 10.1039/B310022G

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