LASER-ENVI - A LASER spectrometer-based ENVIronmental Gas and Gas-Isotope Facility

地球是一个宜居行星，因为它的大气层中含有特殊的气体混合物和压力。这些气体参与了地球表面的一系列过程，这些过程既消耗又产生它们，形成了一个温暖、宜居、对真核生物至关重要的行星大气，其中包含大气中的氧气。重要的是，今天，使地球保持温暖的气体，特别是二氧化碳(CO2)和甲烷(CH4)的浓度正在急剧增加，导致人为的全球变暖。追踪这些气体的来源，它们的消耗，以及它们在地球表面参与的过程，有助于我们理解地球在压力下的运作，并可能有助于预测各种消耗和产生这些温室气体的过程可能会在未来气温和海平面上升的情况下发生变化。追踪大气中各种气体来源和汇的最有力工具之一是测量这些气体的稳定同位素组成。过去，这种分析仅限于大样本量，以及将样品从环境保存到实验室的能力。此外，传统的气体浓度和同位素组成的测量，通过同位素比质谱仪--这是一项非常强大的技术，但体积大，能源效率低。在过去的十年中，激光光谱分析的进步正在彻底改变气体浓度和同位素分析的研究领域，制造出紧凑、节能的设备。因为它们紧凑，可以现场部署，允许进行更多的分析，并避免将样本送回实验室的相关风险。过去十年，激光光谱学领域的分析能力有所提高，产生了能够测量关键气体浓度及其同位素组成的仪器，对于某些气体，还能测量气体分子中同位素的有序性。这一技术发展意味着我们处于能够完全解决各种自然环境中气体循环的前沿。此外，分析时间比传统的IRMS短几个数量级，允许更高的样品吞吐量。英国有潜力走在这项技术的前沿，有能力测量各种气体的同位素组成。尽管英国各地的大学都有单独的激光光谱仪，但没有国家设施可以测量不同环境和自然丰度范围内与气候相关的气体的全范围浓度和同位素。鉴于提出的问题的复杂性和相互关联性，以及需要在单个样本上测量一个以上的物种，需要一套专门的设施和一套仪器，可以同时用于相同的样本。

Earth is a habitable planet because of the particular mixture and pressure of gases it contains in its atmosphere. These gases are involved in a range of processes across Earth's surface that both consume and produce them, creating 'cycles' that result in a planetary atmosphere that is warm, habitable, and critically for eukaryotic life, contains atmospheric oxygen. Importantly today, the concentration of the gases that keep the planet warm, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are increasing dramatically, causing anthropogenic global warming. Tracing the sources of these gases, their consumption, and the processes they are involved in across Earth's surface informs our understanding of the functioning of our planet under stress and may help with predicting how various processes that consume and produce these greenhouse gases may change under future rising temperature and sea level. One of the most powerful tools for tracing the various sources and sinks of gas to the atmosphere is the measurement of the stable isotopic composition of these gases. This analysis has in the past been limited to large sample sizes, and by the ability to preserve samples from the environment to the laboratory. Furthermore the traditional measurement of gas concentration and isotopic composition, via isotope-ratio mass spectrometry - highly powerful technology, but large and energy inefficient. Analytical advancements in the last decade in laser spectroscopy is revolutionising the field of research in the analysis of gas concentration and isotopes, making compact, energy-efficient equipment. Because they are compact, they can be field-deployable, allowing more analyses and avoiding the risks associated with returning samples to the laboratory. The analytical capabilities within the field of laser spectroscopy have accelerated in the past decade, yielding instruments capable of measuring the concentration of key gases, their isotopic composition and, for some gases, the ordering of the isotopes within the gas molecule. This technological development means we are at the forefront of being able to fully resolve the gas cycle across a range of natural environments. Furthermore, the analysis time is orders-of-magnitude shorter than conventional IRMS, allowing far higher throughput of samples. The UK has the potential to be at the forefront of this technology, with the ability to measure the isotopic composition of various gases. Although there are individual laser spectrometers at Universities throughout the UK, there is no national facility that can measure the full range of concentrations and isotopes of climatologically relevant gases across the diverse range of environments and natural abundances. Given the complexity and interconnectedness the questions being asked, and the need to measure more than one species on individual samples, a dedicated facility with a suite of instruments that may be used in tandem on the same samples is required.