Frequency Response of a Low-Power Trace Gas Analyzer for Eddy-Covariance Flux Measurements

Previous commercially available closed-path eddy covariance instrumentation used to quantify fluxes of trace gases relied on large flow rates from large pumps to attain high frequency response. These pumps would require AC mains power as well as environmental protection, limiting suitable locations for deployment. Building on over 20-years of experience manufacturing field-rugged trace gas analyzers, Campbell Scientific has developed a new novel closed-path analyzer to measure methane or nitrous oxide mixing ratios. The new analyzer achieves excellent frequency response (>3Hz bandwidth) with only 1.8 LPM flow rate and typical power consumption of 40W, while maintaining excellent noise performance (<5 ppb and <1 ppb typical noise at 10Hz Allan deviation for methane and nitrous oxide respectively).