NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The CIMS instrument consists of a low pressure ion molecule reactor (IMR) coupled to a quadrupole mass filter by an actively pumped collisional dissociation chamber (CDC) and an octopole ion guide. The vacuum system is a 100 mm outer diameter stainless steel chamber evacuated with two small turbo pumps (70 l s^-1). The mass filter is a set of 9.5 mm diameter quadrupole rods housed in the main vacuum chamber. The CDC is a short 80 mm diameter chamber that houses an octopole ion guide and is evacuated with a hybrid molecular drag pump. The IMR is evacuated with a scroll pump (300 l min^-1) that also serves as the backing pump for the mass spectrometer.

Click here for the Collaborative Ground and Airborne Observations description page.

PANTHER uses Gas Chromatography with Electron Capture Detection and (GC-ECD) and Gas Chromatography with Mass Selective Detection (GC-MSD) to measure numerous trace gases, including methyl halides, HCFCs, peroxyacetyl nitrate, nitrous oxide, SF6, CFC-12, CFC-11, Halon-1211, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride.

3 ECDs with packed columns (OV-101, Porapak-Q, molecular sieve).

1 ECD with a TE (thermal electric) cooled RTX-200 capillary column.

2-channel MSD (mass selective detector). The MSD analyzes two independent samples air concentrated onto TE cooled Haysep traps, which are then heated to desorb the analytes and separate using through two temperature programmed RTX-624 capillary columns.

With the exception of PAN, all channels of chromatography are normalized to a stable in-flight calibration gas references to NOAA scales. The PAN data are normalized to an in-flight PAN source of ≈ 100 ppt with ±5 % reproducibility. This source is generated by efficient photolytic conversion of NO in the presence of acetone. Detector non-linearity is taken out by lab calibrations for all molecules.

The Ames PANAK instrument is a computerized 3- channel Capillary Gas Chromatographic system designed for the collection and analysis of low ppt (10-12 v/v) levels of peroxyacyl nitrates (PANs), alkyl nitrates, and tertrachloroethene in Channels 1 and 2; and C2-C3 aldehydes, C1-C2 alcohols, C3-C4 ketones, and C1-C2 nitriles in channel 3. Channels 1 and 2 use ECD detectors and have a sampling frequency of 2.5 minutes. Channel 3 uses a Photo Ionization detector placed in series with a Reduction Gas detector and has a sampling frequency of 5 minutes. The main manifold draws 5 SL/min of ambient air through a heated Teflon lined probe from which each of the three instrument channels draws a 200 ml aliquot of sample air. This aliquot is dried by passing it through a –35 °C cold trap, cooled to -140 °C for constituent pre concentration, and then heat desorbed into the gas chromatographic columns. All calibrations are performed in-flight by using an installed dilution system and in a manner that mimics ambient air sampling. Primary standards are generally referred to a series of permeation tubes. In addition high concentration standards are also carried on board. Sensitivities under typical conditions are: 1-3 ppt PANs, 1-5 ppt alkyl nitrates, 5-20 ppt OVOC, and 20-30 ppt nitriles.

The PAN-CIGAR chemical ionization mass spectrometer which measures up to 7 PAN species simultaneously and semi-continuously with a time resolution of ~2 seconds. The method is based on the detection of the acylperoxy radicals formed from thermal decomposition of the PAN species at the inlet by reacting them with iodide ions, which are formed by passing methyl iodide diluted in nitrogen through an α–particle source. The reaction of the peroxy acyl radicals with I- forms IO and the acyl ion, which is detected using a quadrupole mass spectrometer (Extrel) at a mass to charge ratio of 59 in the case of PAN. The method is very specific for PAN type compounds and the limit of detection is ~1 pptv/s or better for most PAN species. The instrument employs a realtime continuous calibration using isotopically labeled PAN produced in-situ by a photolytic calibration source.

The Charged-coupled device Actinic Flux Spectroradiometers (CAFS) instruments measure in situ down- and up-welling radiation and combine to provide 4 pi steradian actinic flux density spectra from 280 to 650 nm. The sampling resolution is ~0.8 nm with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 1.7 nm at 297 nm. From the measured flux, photolysis frequencies are calculated for ~40 important atmospheric trace gases including O3, NO2, HCHO, HONO and NO3 using a modified version of the NCAR Tropospheric Ultraviolet and Visible (TUV) radiative transfer model. The absolute spectral sensitivity of the instruments is determined in the laboratory with 1000 W NIST-traceable tungsten-halogen lamps with a wavelength dependent uncertainty of 3–5%. During deployments, spectral sensitivity is assessed with secondary calibration lamps while wavelength assignment is tracked with Hg line sources and comparisons to spectral features in the extraterrestrial flux. The optical collectors are characterized for angular and azimuthal response and the effective planar receptor distance. CAFS have an excellent legacy of performance on the NASA DC-8 and WB-57 platforms during atmospheric chemistry and satellite validation mission. These include AVE Houston 2004 and 2005, PAVE, CR-AVE, TC4, ARCTAS, DC3, SEAC4RS, KORUS-AQ, ATom and FIREX-AQ. For FIREX-AQ, upgraded electronics and cooling reduced noise and allowed for a decrease to 1 Hz acquisition.