In the first post of this series, I noted that Gloria Jacobson, Picarro product manager for greenhouse gas analyzers, had been discussing Picarro G5101-i analyzer test results with several scientists, and would provide more detailed information in a series of posts. Here’s the first.

Professor Rich Farrell and his team at the University of Saskatchewan, College of Agriculture and Bioresources perform applied and fundamental research in soil biology, chemistry and environmental agronomy. Professor Farrell was among the first researchers who contacted Picarro with an interest in an analyzer that could measure isotopes and concentration of N₂O. 

Professor Farrell has performed critical instrument performance tests including drift, precision, linearity, and gas response.  In addition, his team was the first to run gas samples from their soil chambers on the Picarro G5101-i analyzer. The soil samples ranged in N₂O concentration from ambient to more than 1,200 PPBv, and had levels of ¹⁵N enrichment from 93 to 1,000‰. According to Rich,

“Isotopic N₂O measurements can be challenging, but the G5101-i has outperformed our expectations and has allowed us to conduct experiments that we would not have been able to do in the past—while at the same time allowing us to view the results in real-time. It’s been fantastic and was well worth the wait!”

On July 22, Professor Farrell made a presentation as part of a Greenhouse Gas Workshop at a joint meeting of the Canadian Soil Science Society (CSSS) in Manitoba. An excerpt of the presentation describing the Picarro G5101-i analyzer performance is attached.

The next installment will highlight the work of Amy Steiker from Colorado University, USA.