Articles | Volume 10, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3073-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3073-2017
Research article
 | 
24 Aug 2017
Research article |  | 24 Aug 2017

Effects of variation in background mixing ratios of N2, O2, and Ar on the measurement of δ18O–H2O and δ2H–H2O values by cavity ring-down spectroscopy

Jennifer E. Johnson and Chris W. Rella

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AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
AR by Jennifer Johnson on behalf of the Authors (30 Jun 2017)  Author's response   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (13 Jul 2017) by William Ward
AR by Jennifer Johnson on behalf of the Authors (13 Jul 2017)
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Short summary
Cavity ring-down spectrometers (CRDS) can make accurate measurements of trace gases when the inert gas background is constant but are prone to errors when the background is variable. Here, we report that in one CRDS analyzer (L2120-i, Picarro), these errors result from broadening, narrowing, and shifting of the target absorption lines as well as neighboring lines. New spectral acquisition and analysis strategies are needed to make CRDS measurements robust to variable backgrounds.