CarboAfrica scientists utilise Picarro G1301

Edited by the Laboratorytalk editorial team Oct 8, 2008

Picarro has announced that scientists from CarboAfrica have successfully installed a Picarro G1301 GHG monitor at the Station de Geophysique de Lamto in equatorial West Africa.

The Ivory Coast location is a particularly challenging spot for remote monitoring equipment because it is characterised by very high humidity and ambient temperatures that can easily exceed 40C.

The Picarro G1301 utilises wavelength-scanned cavity ring down spectroscopy technology to deliver simultaneous and continuous measurements of both methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) at a precision of parts per billion.

Immunity from cross-talk enables it to achieve this precision with ambient samples, without the need for drying or any other purification.

The Picarro analyser is located in a small building adjacent to a 50m tower allowing data to be taken automatically and continuously via a tube terminating at the top of the tower.

It has now been operating without any servicing or calibration since late July 2008.

The Lamto GHG programme is operated by scientists from the CarboAfrica participants, including the CEA (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique) in France and the University of Cocody in Ivory Coast.