NEW FAST-RESPONSE PHOTOFRAGMENT FLUORESCENCE HYGROMETER FOR USE ON THE NASA ER-2 AND THE PERSEUS REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • We have developed an insitu instrument to measure water vapor on the NASA ER-2 as a prototype for use on the Perseus remotely piloted aircraft. It utilizes photofragment fluorescence throughout the stratosphere and the upper to middle troposphere (mixing ratios from 2 to 300 ppmv) with simultaneous absorption measurements in the middle troposphere (water vapor concentrations 51014 mol/cc). The instrument flew successfully on the NASA ER-2 aircraft during the 1993 CEPEX and SPADE campaigns. The 2 measurement precision for a 10 s integration time, limited by variation in the background from scattered solar radiation, is 6% and the data were tightly correlated with other long-lived stratospheric tracers throughout the SPADE mission. Its accuracy is estimated to be 10%, based on laboratory calibrations using a range of water vapor concentrations independently determined by both standard gas addition techniques and by absorption. This accuracy is confirmed by in-flight absorption measurements in the troposphere. The fast response time of the instrument, limited by the 4 Hz data sampling rate, was demonstrated when the ER-2 flew across its own exhaust plume. Improvements to the instrument planned for the Perseus aircraft are described which include the addition of an in-flight water vapor addition system, significant reduction in solar background, and weight reduction.

published proceedings

  • REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS

altmetric score

  • 6

author list (cited authors)

  • WEINSTOCK, E. M., HINTSA, E. J., DESSLER, A. E., OLIVER, J. F., HAZEN, N. L., DEMUSZ, J. N., ... ANDERSON, J. G.

citation count

  • 110

complete list of authors

  • WEINSTOCK, EM||HINTSA, EJ||DESSLER, AE||OLIVER, JF||HAZEN, NL||DEMUSZ, JN||ALLEN, NT||LAPSON, LB||ANDERSON, JG

publication date

  • November 1994