Browsing by Author "Korkiakoski, Mika"

Cavity ring-down spectroscopy is a laser absorption technique based on the principle of measuring the rate of exponential decay of light intensity inside the ring-down cavity. When the absorption spectrum of a gas is known, it is possible to determine the mole fraction of this gas by measuring the height of the absorption peak, which can be acquired from the rate of decay of light. This technique is used in G1301, G2301 and G2401 (Picarro Inc.) gas analyzers which measure carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and water vapor. However, measured gas mole fractions are diluted from their actual value; mostly due to variations in atmospheric water vapor. This effect causes large errors and it has to be corrected either by drying the sample or applying a water vapor correction. A default water vapor correction is included in Picarro gas analyzers, but it might not be accurate enough for use in some measurements. In this study, determination of water vapor correction coefficients was carried out by doing several droplet tests for seven different gas analyzers, which included one G2401, two G1301, four G2301gas analyzers. Mean correction functions determined for the analyzers were compared to the Picarro default correction. In addition, the comparison was made with time series data for one of the analyzers. Also, the water vapor measurement of the gas analyzers was calibrated to acquire the actual water vapor mole fraction. As a result, the factory correction for CO2 was proved sufficient for high accuracy measurements only up to 0.7 % water vapor mole fraction. For CH4, the factory coefficient was enough up to 2.0 %, which corresponds to dew point temperature of 18 °C. In conclusion, neither of factory corrections is enough for use all year round. So, the water vapor correction should be made for each gas analyzer when making high accuracy measurements. Due to cyclic drift of water vapor measurement, the correction should remain stable over time, but this needs further verification. Currently, the correction should be made at least once per year.