Correcting atmospheric CO₂ and CH₄ mole fractions obtained with Picarro analyzers for sensitivity of cavity pressure to water vapor

Abstract

Measurements of dry air mole fractions of atmospheric greenhouse gases are used in inverse models of atmospheric tracer transport to quantify their sources and sinks. The measurements have to be calibrated to a common scale to avoid bias in the inferred fluxes. For this purpose, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has set requirements for the interlaboratory compatibility of atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) measurements. A widely used series of devices for these measurements are the GHG analyzers manufactured by Picarro, Inc. These are often operated in humid air, and the effects of water vapor are corrected for in post-processing. Here, we report on rarely detected and previously unexplained biases of the water correction method for CO2 and CH4 in the literature. They are largest at water vapor mole fractions below 0.5 % H2O, which were undersampled in previous studies, and can therefore affect measurements obtained in humid air. Setups that dry sample air using Nafion membranes may be affected as well if there are differences in residual water vapor levels between sample and calibration air. The biases are caused by a sensitivity of the pressure in the measurement cavity to water vapor. We correct these biases by modifying the water correction method from the literature. Our method relies on experiments that maintain stable water vapor levels to allow equilibration of cavity pressure. In our experiments with the commonly used droplet method, this requirement was not fulfilled. Correcting CO2 measurements proved challenging, presumably because of our humidification method. Open questions pertain to differences among analyzers and variability over time. In our experiments, the biases amounted to considerable fractions of the WMO interlaboratory compatibility goals. Since measurements of dry air mole fractions of CO2 and CH4 are also subject to other uncertainties, correcting the cavity pressure-related biases helps keep the overall accuracy of measurements obtained with Picarro GHG analyzers in humid and potentially in Nafion-dried air within the WMO goals.