Developing an Equilibrator Inlet Mass Spectrometer for Underway Measurements of a Suite of Noble Gases

开发平衡器入口质谱仪用于连续测量一组稀有气体

• 批准号: 1060840
• 负责人: Rachel Stanley
• 金额: $ 39.99万
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-06-01 至 2014-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1060840&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Developing; Equilibrator; Inlet; Mass; Spectrometer

Coastal seas are responsible for large air-sea carbon fluxes. Most studies on coastal carbon fluxes combine measurements of the partial pressure of CO2 with a gas exchange parameterization that was designed for the open ocean. However, open ocean gas exchange parameterizations are likely not suitable for application in coastal regions due to issues such as fetch, surfactants, bottom topography, and enhanced bubble fluxes due to wave breaking. Noble gases are biologically and chemically inert and therefore are excellent tracers of physical processes, such as air-sea gas exchange. In addition, because there are five stable noble gases with a range of physicochemical properties, the noble gases respond differently to physical forcing and can be used to separate and quantify physical processes, such as bubble injection and diffusive air-sea gas exchange. Noble gases have successfully been used in the open ocean to construct air-sea gas exchange parameterizations. However, they have not been used in the coastal zone because the heterogeneity in coastal regions makes measurements of the noble gases by traditional means impractical. The PI requests funding to develop an underway mass spectrometer that can measure a suite of noble gases (Ne, Kr, and Xe) from the underway system of a ship. The system could be used in coastal zones to produce a gas exchange parameterization specifically designed for coastal regions. In addition, it could be used to quantify gas exchange in other heterogeneous environments, such as around ice floes, and could be used on icebreakers to study sea ice formation. Broader Impacts: The design of the proposed system will be made widely available through peer-reviewed and web-posted publications, which will include the detailed information necessary for replication of this system by interested research groups. The measurements made using the EIMS-NoG will serve to improve current knowledge of coastal areas air-sea gas exchange rates, and clarify the role of such regions as CO2 sinks/sources. The PI is involved in mentoring of a number of undergraduate students, including female students (through Summer Student and Minority Fellowship program). The PI will also be using the instrument as an educational tool for a large number of undergraduate students (45) during cruises of R/V Tioga, the ship where the instrument will be housed through the large period of the project.

沿海海洋造成大量的海气碳通量。大多数关于沿海碳通量的研究都将二氧化碳分压的测量与专为公海设计的气体交换参数化相结合。然而，由于取水、表面活性剂、底部地形以及波浪破碎导致的气泡通量增强等问题，公海气体交换参数化可能不适合在沿海地区应用。稀有气体具有生物和化学惰性，因此是物理过程（例如空气-海洋气体交换）的极好示踪剂。此外，由于有五种稳定的稀有气体具有一系列的物理化学性质，稀有气体对物理强迫的响应不同，可用于分离和量化物理过程，例如气泡注入和扩散的空气-海气交换。稀有气体已成功地在公海中用于构建海气交换参数化。然而，它们尚未在沿海地区使用，因为沿海地区的异质性使得通过传统手段测量稀有气体不切实际。 PI 请求资助开发一种能够测量船舶航行系统中的一系列惰性气体（Ne、Kr 和 Xe）的航行中质谱仪。该系统可用于沿海地区，产生专门为沿海地区设计的气体交换参数化。此外，它还可用于量化其他异质环境（例如浮冰周围）的气体交换，并可用于破冰船上研究海冰的形成。更广泛的影响：拟议系统的设计将通过同行评审和网络发布的出版物广泛提供，其中将包括感兴趣的研究小组复制该系统所需的详细信息。使用 EIMS-NoG 进行的测量将有助于提高目前对沿海地区空气-海洋气体交换率的了解，并阐明这些区域作为二氧化碳汇/源的作用。 PI 参与指导许多本科生，包括女学生（通过暑期学生和少数族裔奖学金计划）。 PI 还将在 R/V Tioga 巡游期间将该仪器用作大量本科生 (45 名) 的教育工具，该仪器将在项目的大部分时间都存放在该船上。