Skip to main content
Blog entry

Gloria Jacobson, Picarro product manager for greenhouse gas analyzers, has been very busy lately. As the picture shows, she has been testing products in nearby marsh lands. In addition, she has discussed field tests with independent scientists, and attended several conferences in the U.S. and China. Over the next few weeks, she will be sharing her insights through a series of blog posts. 

"Picarro developed the G5101-i analyzer to help provide a more robust tool for unraveling the biological and physical controls over the sources of atmospheric N2OThis instrument provides the capability to continuously and precisely measure N2O concentration along with the primary 15N stable isotopes of N2O.

Understanding the nitrogen cycle at local and global levels is imperative for reducing harmful anthropogenic effects on the environment—such as greenhouse gas emissions and over-fertilization—and for creating new solutions for future food production and ecological preservation issues. Measurements of N2O are increasingly used in a variety of nitrogen cycle studies, however, large spatiotemporal variation in N2O makes scaling measurements challenging and leaves model emissions at larger scales poorly constrained. Adding isotope measurements can help the researcher meet these challenges. 

Picarro rigorously tests each analyzer we ship to ensure it meets standards and expectations. However, tests by independent scientists in laboratory and field applications are equally essential. My next blog post will highlight an example of an independent test through the work of Professor Rich Farrell from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada."