Upgrade of a continuous-flow mass spectrometer for automated analyses of isotope ratios of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide

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0930000Townsend-Small"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)." This award will support upgrades to an existing IRMS to allow additional analytical capabilities. The enhanced capabilities will be used to track contributions from urban processes into and between carbon and nitrogen pools. Requested is a methane-nitrous oxide preconcentrator unit, GC autosampler (designed to work with the preconcentrator), a specific GC column, and shipping and training costs. The upgrade will be applied to existing instrumentation. Adequate space and resources currently exist. A fee-based schedule will be implemented to offset maintenance and operation costs. Prioritization will be given to PIs and students and a scheduling system will be implemented if needed. The PIs will manage the facility new user training. The PIs will use the new capabilities to track N2O fluxes in urban settings. These have been shown to vary considerably based on land use, agricultural/urban activities, and sewage treatment processes. Sample throughput can be increased substantially from the proposed acquisition. In additional isotopic measurments will be used to understand biogeochemical fluxes from both natural (respiration) and anthropogenic (fossil fuel combustion) processes. Future research directions include using isotopes to trace nutrient inputs to the coastal ocean and CO2 fluxes from different plant types. One main impact of this upgrade will be a substantial increase in sample processing capabilities which will have a ripple effect for all users, particularly allowing graduate students to obtain the data they need to more quickly finish their theses research. Minority students will be well-served through several UC-I programs. The PIs also work with the non-profit Ocean Institute which provides an avenue for K-12 outreach. Results from research efforts will not only be disseminated in the literature and at meetings, but will have a direct utility for public entities and government agencies. ***