Tropospheric Chemistry: Instruments

Laser Photo-Acoustic Spectroscopy (LPAS)

Decommissioned

Principle of the Measurement

Excitation of ethylene inside a resonator using a modulated CO2 laser
Quenching of excited ethylene by collisions
Heat transfer leads to audible noise at the laser modulation frequency
Detection of noise with a microphone

Species Measured

1. Ethylene

Time Response / Detection Limit

4-20 seconds / 70-200 pptv

Manufacturer

Sensor Sense

Field Projects

• INDOEX 1999
• MINOS 2001
• ITCT 2002
• NEAQS 2002
• ICARTT 2004
• MILAGRO 2006
• TexAQS 2006
• BEARPEX 2007
• ARCPAC 2008
• ICEALOT 2008
• CalNex 2010
• NACHTT 2011
• BioCORN 2011
• SONNE 2012
• UBWOS 2012
• SENEX 2013

Key Publications

J.A. de Gouw, S. te Lintel Hekkert, J. Mellqvist, C. Warneke, E.L. Atlas, F.C. Fehsenfeld, A. Fried, G.J. Frost, F.J.M. Harren, J.S. Holloway, B. Lefer, R. Lueb, J.F. Meagher, D.D. Parrish, M. Patel, L. Pope, D. Richter, C. Rivera, T.B. Ryerson, J. Samuelsson, J. Walega, R.A. Washenfelder, P. Weibring and X. Zhu, Airborne measurements of ethene from industrial sources using laser photo-acoustic spectroscopy, Environmental Science & Technology, doi:10.1021/es802701a, 2009.

W.C. Kuster, F.J.M. Harren and J.A. de Gouw, Inter-comparison of laser photoacoustic spectroscopy and gas chromatography techniques for measurements of ethene in the atmosphere, Environmental Science & Technology, doi:10.1021/es0504385, 2005.