Whole Air Sampler (WAS (UCI))

Status

Status: 
Operational
Operated By: 
PI

A UC-Irvine foam-embedded set of 24 linked, 2-L stainless steel samplings canisters
installed on the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the TC4 mission. Photo by Nicola Blake.

The UC-Irvine research group collected whole air samples aboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the summer 2019 NASA Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments Experiment - Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) field mission. More than 70 trace gases were identified and quantified at our Irvine laboratory, including C2-C10 NMHCs, C1-C2 halocarbons, C1-C5 alkyl nitrates, and selected sulfur compounds using our established technique of airborne whole air sampling followed by laboratory analysis using gas chromatography (GC) with flame ionization detection (FID), electron capture detection (ECD), and mass spectrometric detection (MSD). Our experimental procedures build on those that have been successfully employed for numerous prior NASA field missions, for example PEM Tropics A and B, TRACE-P, INTEX-A and B, ARCTAS, DC-3, SEAC4RS, ATom, KORUS-AQ, FIREX-AQ, and SARP.

Instrument Type: 
Recent Missions: 
ASIA-AQ (DC-8 - AFRC); SARP (DC-8 - AFRC); FIREX-AQ (DC-8 - AFRC); KORUS-AQ (DC-8 - AFRC); ATom (DC-8 - AFRC); SEAC4RS (DC-8 - AFRC)
Complete mission list:
Point(s) of Contact: