Richter, D., Weibring, P., Walega, J. G., Fried, A., Spuler, S. M., & Taubman, M. S. (2015). Compact highly sensitive multi-species airborne mid-IR spectrometer. Applied Physics B: Lasers And Optics, 119, 119-131. doi:10.1007/s00340-015-6038-8
We report on the development and airborne field deployment of a mid-IR laser-based spectrometer. The instrument was configured for the simultaneous in situ detection of formaldehyde (CH₂O) and ethane (C₂H₆). Numerous mechanical, optical, electronic, and software improvements over a previous instr... Show moreWe report on the development and airborne field deployment of a mid-IR laser-based spectrometer. The instrument was configured for the simultaneous in situ detection of formaldehyde (CH₂O) and ethane (C₂H₆). Numerous mechanical, optical, electronic, and software improvements over a previous instrument design resulted in reliable highly sensitive airborne operation with long stability times yielding 90 % airborne measurement coverage during the recent air quality study over the Colorado Front Range, FRAPPÉ 2014. Airborne detection sensitivities of ~15 pptv (C₂H₆) and ~40 pptv (CH₂O) were generally obtained for 1 s of averaging for simultaneous detection. Show less