A compact QCL spectrometer for mobile, high-precision methane sensing aboard drones

Tuzson, Béla; Graf, Manuel; Ravelid, Jonas; Scheidegger, Philipp; Kupferschmid, André; Looser, Herbert; Morales, Randulph Paulo; Emmenegger, Lukas

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4715-2020

Articles | Volume 13, issue 9

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4715-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4715-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 13, issue 9

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

07 Sep 2020

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 07 Sep 2020

A compact QCL spectrometer for mobile, high-precision methane sensing aboard drones

Béla Tuzson, Manuel Graf, Jonas Ravelid, Philipp Scheidegger, André Kupferschmid, Herbert Looser, Randulph Paulo Morales, and Lukas Emmenegger

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Final revised paper (published on 07 Sep 2020)
Preprint (discussion started on 07 Apr 2020)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'Fried's Review of Manuscript', Alan Fried, 09 May 2020
- AC1: 'Response to Alan Fried's review', Bela Tuzson, 03 Jul 2020
SC1: 'Questions', Nicolas DUMELIE, 13 May 2020
- AC3: 'Response to Nicolas Dumelie's questions', Bela Tuzson, 03 Jul 2020
RC2: 'compact trace gas monitor for CH4', David Nelson, 17 Jun 2020
- AC2: 'Response to Dave Nelson's review', Bela Tuzson, 03 Jul 2020

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

AR by Béla Tuzson on behalf of the Authors (06 Jul 2020) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (28 Jul 2020) by Darin Toohey

AR by Béla Tuzson on behalf of the Authors (03 Aug 2020)

Short summary

We describe a lightweight (2 kg) mid-IR laser spectrometer for airborne, in situ atmospheric methane (CH₄) measurements. The instrument, based on an open-path circular multipass cell, provides fast response (1 Hz) and sub-parts-per-billion precision. It can easily be mounted on a drone, giving access to highly resolved 4D (spatial and temporal) data. The performance was assessed during field deployments involving artificial CH₄ releases and vertical concentration gradients in the PBL.