The G1301-m flight-ready trace gas analyser from Picarro is a GHG monitor that provides high precision and accuracy for CO2, CH4 and H2O.
It is a compact instrument designed for continuous operation at altitudes up to 10,000m and with climb/descent rates up to 1km/min.
The analyser is also equipped to manage the rigorous vibration profiles of aircraft and ships.
Developed and tested in cooperation with scientists at NOAA, the Picarro G1301-m enables direct, real-time sampling and analysis in flight, eliminating the time, cost and limited data sampling associated with traditional sample capture for laboratory-bound instruments.
The analyser is based on Picarro's wavelength-scanned cavity ring down (WS-CRDS) technology, proven in demanding laboratory applications and challenging field locations such as Mauna Loa and the Ivory Coast's Carboafrica project.
The instrument, which does not require frequent recalibration, provides decades of linear dynamic range and is claimed to be simple to install and operate.
Colm Sweeney, the lead scientist for the NOAA Earth System Research Lab Aircraft Programme, has participated in recent flight tests of the G1301-m analyser.
He said: 'Picarro's G1301-m flight-ready WS-CRDS analyser provides the pressure and temperature stability that greatly improves my ability to collect accurate vertical profiles of CO2 and other trace gases concentrations.
'These vertical profiles are an essential component in quantifying the net impact that the North American continent has on atmospheric concentrations of CO2,' added Sweeney.
Mike Woelk, chief executive officer of Picarro, said: 'We believe that it's vitally important that these analysers use a common platform, so this must be a platform that has been rigorously designed, engineered and tested to deliver the same performance, whether in a pristine lab on a rainy, windy and exposed landfill site or on a high-altitude aircraft.
'In this new analyser, we have now incorporated an even higher degree of pressure and temperature stability and control.
'This includes pressure stabilisation of our proprietary wavelength monitor that is key to precise wavelength scanning and thus the high signal to noise of this flight-proven instrument,' he added.
