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An Integrated Flask Sample Collection System for Greenhouse Gas Measurements 

Literature Reference
Peer Reviewed Literature
Authors

J. Turnbull, D. Guenther, A. Karion, C. Sweeney, E. Anderson, A. Andrews, J. Kofler, N. Miles, T. Newberger, S. Richardson, P. Tans

Presented at

Atmospheric Measurement Techniques http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/amtd-5-4077-2012 

Abstract

A one hour integrated flask sampling system to collect air in automated NOAA/ESRL12-flask packages is described. The integrating compressor system uses a mass flowcontroller to regulate the flow of air through a 15 l volume, thus providing a mixture of air5 collected over an hour-long period. By beginning with a high flow rate of 3800 standardliters per minute and gradually decreasing the flow rate over time to 290 standardliters per minute it is possible to obtain a nearly uniformly time averaged sample of airand collect it into a pressurized 0.7 l flask. The weighting function determining the airmixture obtained is described in detail. Laboratory and field tests demonstrate that the10 integrated sample approximates a simple mean of air collected during the one-hoursampling time.