GAWTEC & YESS Webinar Series Reactive Gases: Martin Steinbacher - Carbon monoxide in the atmosphere

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a central molecule in atmospheric composition monitoring and research. Mole fractions in the troposphere range from less than 100 ppb in remote areas to a few ppm in urban environments. Major sources are fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning and oxidation of methane and nonmethane hydrocarbons. Despite being a reactive gas with an atmospheric lifetime of a few days to months, CO is also considered as an indirect greenhouse gas as it interacts in the oxidative chain reactions and, consequently, also influences the lifetime of long-lived greenhouse gases such as methane. Thus, carbon monoxide plays an important role in atmospheric chemistry, the carbon cycle, and the Earth's radiative budget.

The Global Atmosphere Watch Programme (GAW) of the World Meteorological Organization lists CO as one of its recommended measurement variables. Several fundamentally different measurement techniques exist for CO observations. The lecture will give a comprehensive overview of the most common techniques and related quality assurance / quality control recommendations.