Articles | Volume 14, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2515-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2515-2021
Research article
 | 
31 Mar 2021
Research article |  | 31 Mar 2021

A method for resolving changes in atmospheric He ∕ N2 as an indicator of fossil fuel extraction and stratospheric circulation

Benjamin Birner, William Paplawsky, Jeffrey Severinghaus, and Ralph F. Keeling

Related authors

Short-term variability of atmospheric helium revealed through a cryo-enrichment method
Benjamin Birner, Eric Morgan, and Ralph F. Keeling
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1551–1561, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1551-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1551-2023, 2023
Short summary
Gravitational separation of Ar∕N2 and age of air in the lowermost stratosphere in airborne observations and a chemical transport model
Benjamin Birner, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Eric J. Morgan, Britton B. Stephens, Marianna Linz, Wuhu Feng, Chris Wilson, Jonathan D. Bent, Steven C. Wofsy, Jeffrey Severinghaus, and Ralph F. Keeling
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12391–12408, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12391-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12391-2020, 2020
Short summary
The influence of layering and barometric pumping on firn air transport in a 2-D model
Benjamin Birner, Christo Buizert, Till J. W. Wagner, and Jeffrey P. Severinghaus
The Cryosphere, 12, 2021–2037, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2021-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2021-2018, 2018
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Gases | Technique: Laboratory Measurement | Topic: Instruments and Platforms
High-precision oxygen isotope (δ18O) measurements of atmospheric dioxygen using optical-feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OF-CEAS)
Clément Piel, Daniele Romanini, Morgane Farradèche, Justin Chaillot, Clémence Paul, Nicolas Bienville, Thomas Lauwers, Joana Sauze, Kévin Jaulin, Frédéric Prié, and Amaëlle Landais
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6647–6658, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6647-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6647-2024, 2024
Short summary
Water vapor stable isotope memory effects of common tubing materials
Alexandra L. Meyer and Lisa R. Welp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6193–6212, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6193-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6193-2024, 2024
Short summary
Product Ion Distributions using H3O+ PTR-ToF-MS: Mechanisms, Transmission Effects, and Instrument-to-Instrument Variability
Michael F. Link, Megan S. Claflin, Christina E. Cecelski, Ayomide A. Akande, Delaney Kilgour, Paul A. Heine, Matthew Coggon, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Andrew Jensen, Jie Yu, Han N. Huynh, Jenna C. Ditto, Carsten Warneke, William Dresser, Keighan Gemmell, Spiro Jorga, Rileigh L. Robertson, Joost de Gouw, Timothy Bertram, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Nadine Borduas-Dedekind, and Dustin Poppendieck
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3132,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3132, 2024
Short summary
Evaluation of a reduced-pressure chemical ion reactor utilizing adduct ionization for the detection of gaseous organic and inorganic species
Matthieu Riva, Veronika Pospisilova, Carla Frege, Sebastien Perrier, Priyanka Bansal, Spiro Jorga, Patrick Sturm, Joel A. Thornton, Urs Rohner, and Felipe Lopez-Hilfiker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5887–5901, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5887-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5887-2024, 2024
Short summary
Ammonium CI-Orbitrap: a tool for characterizing the reactivity of oxygenated organic molecules
Dandan Li, Dongyu Wang, Lucia Caudillo, Wiebke Scholz, Mingyi Wang, Sophie Tomaz, Guillaume Marie, Mihnea Surdu, Elias Eccli, Xianda Gong, Loic Gonzalez-Carracedo, Manuel Granzin, Joschka Pfeifer, Birte Rörup, Benjamin Schulze, Pekka Rantala, Sébastien Perrier, Armin Hansel, Joachim Curtius, Jasper Kirkby, Neil M. Donahue, Christian George, Imad El-Haddad, and Matthieu Riva
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5413–5428, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5413-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5413-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Arblaster, J. M., Gillett, N. P., Calvo, N., Forster, P. M., Polvani, L. M., Son, S.-W., Waugh, D. W., and Young, P. J.: Stratospheric ozone changes and climate, Chapter 4, Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2014, Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project – Report No. 55. Geneva, Switzerland, 2014. 
Baggenstos, D., Häberli, M., Schmitt, J., Shackleton, S. A., Birner, B., Severinghaus, J. P., Kellerhals, T., and Fischer, H.: Earth's radiative imbalance from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 116, 14881–14886, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1905447116, 2019. 
Belikov, D., Sugawara, S., Ishidoya, S., Hasebe, F., Maksyutov, S., Aoki, S., Morimoto, S., and Nakazawa, T.: Three-dimensional simulation of stratospheric gravitational separation using the NIES global atmospheric tracer transport model, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 5349–5361, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5349-2019, 2019. 
Bereiter, B., Shackleton, S., Baggenstos, D., Kawamura, K., and Severinghaus, J.: Mean global ocean temperatures during the last glacial transition, Nature, 553, 39–44, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25152, 2018. 
Birner, B., Chipperfield, M. P., Morgan, E. J., Stephens, B. B., Linz, M., Feng, W., Wilson, C., Bent, J. D., Wofsy, S. C., Severinghaus, J., and Keeling, R. F.: Gravitational separation of Ar/N2 and age of air in the lowermost stratosphere in airborne observations and a chemical transport model, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12391–12408, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12391-2020, 2020. 
Download
Short summary
The atmospheric helium-to-nitrogen ratio is a promising indicator for circulation changes in the upper atmosphere and fossil fuel burning by humans. We present a very precise analysis method to determine changes in the helium-to-nitrogen ratio of air samples. The method relies on stabilizing the gas flow to a mass spectrometer and continuous removal of reactive gases. These advances enable new insights and monitoring possibilities for anthropogenic and natural processes.