Gaseous/Particulate Absorption Studies at WSMR Using Laser Sourced Spectrophones
Abstract
Field absorption measurements of ambient gases and desert dust were taken using uniquely designed resonant subcavity spectrophones. The gas measuring spectrophone contains an inner acoustical subcavity which essentially eliminates the 'window' noise problem and the dust spectrophone was designed to allow laminar air flow through the microphone so that particle size distributions will be unaltered during measurements. A review of past and present gaseous and particulate absorption measurements in the Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory (ASL) shows frequently good agreement with other independent results such as White cell measurements of methane at deuterium fluoride laser lines (3.5-4.1 micrometer wavelengths), AFGL predictions at CO2 laser lines (9. 2-10.8 micrometer wavelengths) for ozone, and Lorenz-Mie calculations for quartz and calcite aerosol particles at the CO2 laser wavelengths. In a number of cases, significant changes to prior published values have also been well substantiated. Using verified absorption coefficients for the atmospheric gases, an on-line/off-line gas analysis at DF laser frequencies was performed for a site at Oscura Peak, White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), NM. Atmospheric gases at the field site were retained in sampling tanks and taken to the laboratory where concentrations of the known gaseous constituents (water vapor, N2O, and CH4) were determined using a self-consistency calculational scheme. Realtime field measurements of atmospheric absorbing gases and dust were then made at a WSMR desert site.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA089821
Entities
People
- Charles W. Bruce
- Ralph J. Brewer
- Young Paul Yee
Organizations
- Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory