Aircraft Ozone Measurements
The GMDTropospheric ozone aircraft measurement program is being done in conjunction with the Carbon Cycle and Greenhouse Gas (CCGG) group’s existing aircraft sampling network. Aircraft based in-situ Tropospheric ozone measurements provide data relevant to: pollution events, lower atmosphere mixing dynamics, boundary layer stability, ozone trend studies, and the validity of other samples collected in-flight. Currently, four sites are in operation with Boulder as the calibration and logistics center for the network. In the coming year more locations are expected to be integrated with the ozone instrument as the CCGG group’s flask package upgrades continue across North America.
 | Ozone is measured with a compact and lightweight 2B Technologies, Inc., ozone monitor model 202SC as the platform base. The 2B ozone instrument uses the ultraviolet (UV) absorption method to measure ozone concentrations (accurate to 1.5ppbv) and can record averaged data at 10-second intervals to give a dynamic view of the vertical profiling of ozone in the lower atmosphere. With the addition of a Vaisala Temperature and Humidity probe and a Garmin GPS receiver the ozone data set is well supported. |
2B ozone instrument shown in the front luggage compartment of aircraft based in Brookings, OR that flies profiles over ESRL/GMD’s baseline observatory located at Trinidad, CA. |
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Numerous inter-comparisons between 2B ozone instruments and ozonesondes have been flown at the Colorado site and show good agreement between the two instruments. Shone here is the descent profile obtained on the 30th of July, 2004 with both a 2B instrument (red) and a modified ozonesonde (blue) on the same aircraft flight. |
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A 2B ozone instrument has also been modified for use in the NOAA UAV Demo project in cooperation with the Halocarbons and other Atmospheric Trace Species (HATS) Group’s 2 channel gas chromatograph (UCATS). The Altair UAV platform is capable of altitudes above 50,000 feet, putting the aircraft well into the Stratosphere as seen by the high ozone concentration values in this plot. |