Articles | Volume 14, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3923-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3923-2021
Research article
 | 
27 May 2021
Research article |  | 27 May 2021

Testing the altitude attribution and vertical resolution of AirCore measurements with a new spiking method

Thomas Wagenhäuser, Andreas Engel, and Robert Sitals

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Cited articles

Andersen, T., Scheeren, B., Peters, W., and Chen, H.: A UAV-based active AirCore system for measurements of greenhouse gases, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2683–2699, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2683-2018, 2018. 
Dirksen, R. J., Sommer, M., Immler, F. J., Hurst, D. F., Kivi, R., and Vömel, H.: Reference quality upper-air measurements: GRUAN data processing for the Vaisala RS92 radiosonde, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 4463–4490, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4463-2014, 2014. 
Engel, A., Möbius, T., Bönisch, H., Schmidt, U., Heinz, R., Levin, I., Atlas, E., Aoki, S., Nakazawa, T., Sugawara, S., Moore, F., Hurst, D., Elkins, J., Schauffler, S., Andrews, A., and Boering, K.: Age of stratospheric air unchanged within uncertainties over the past 30 years, Nat. Geosci., 2, 28–31, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo388, 2009. 
Engel, A., Bönisch, H., Ullrich, M., Sitals, R., Membrive, O., Danis, F., and Crevoisier, C.: Mean age of stratospheric air derived from AirCore observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6825–6838, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6825-2017, 2017. 
Gkinis, V., Popp, T. J., Johnsen, S. J., and Blunier, T.: A continuous stream flash evaporator for the calibration of an IR cavity ring-down spectrometer for the isotopic analysis of water, Isotopes Environ. Health Stud., 46, 463–475, https://doi.org/10.1080/10256016.2010.538052, 2010. 
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Short summary
AirCore samplers are increasingly deployed to weather balloons to collect continuous atmospheric samples. We introduce a technique that can be used in situ to evaluate different data processing methods that are required to derive vertical trace gas profiles from AirCore measurements after sample recovery. Results from two test flights with a specific AirCore configuration provide evidence for systematic deviations in altitude attribution for the upper levels, which can be empirically corrected.
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