Articles | Volume 19, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-6921-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-6921-2026
Research article
 | 
02 Nov 2026
Research article |  | 02 Nov 2026

Assessing greenhouse gas measurement consistency and traceability in the UK and Ireland atmospheric monitoring network using whole and synthetic air reference materials

Emmal Safi, Joe Pitt, Grant Forster, Christopher Rennick, Simon O'Doherty, Dickon Young, Kanokrat Charoenpornpukdee, Nick Garrard, Dafina Kikaj, Andrew C. Manning, Gerard Spain, Damien Martin, Morgan Lopez, Michel Ramonet, and Kieran Stanley

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Cited articles

Adcock, K. E., Pickers, P. A., Manning, A. C., Forster, G. L., Fleming, L. S., Barningham, T., Wilson, P. A., Kozlova, E. A., Hewitt, M., Etchells, A. J., and Macdonald, A. J.: 12 years of continuous atmospheric O2, CO2 and APO data from Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory in the United Kingdom, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5183–5206, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5183-2023, 2023. 
Brewer, P. J., Brown, R. J. C., Tarasova, O. A., Hall, B., Rhoderick, G. C., and Wielgosz, R. I.: SI traceability and scales for underpinning atmospheric monitoring of greenhouse gases, Metrologia, 55, S174, https://doi.org/10.1088/1681-7575/aad830, 2018. 
Buchmann, B., Klausen, J., and Zellweger, C.: Traceability of Long-Term Atmospheric Composition Observations across Global Monitoring Networks: Chemical Metrology Applied to the Measurements of Constituents in Air, Water, and Soil, Chimia, 63, 657–657, https://doi.org/10.2533/chimia.2009.657, 2009. 
Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases – NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory: GGGRN Data, https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/data/index.html, last access: 2 March 2026. 
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Short summary
We compared whole and synthetic-air reference materials (RMs) for investigating offsets in greenhouse gas measurements so data from different sites/networks can be trusted when combined. By sending whole and synthetic-air (RMs) to six sites and measuring under routine field conditions, we found whole-air gives the most precise results, especially for carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Synthetic-air worked fairly well for methane but synthetic-air RMs needs lower uncertainty before wide use.
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