Open AccessTraceability of Long-Term Atmospheric Composition Observations across Global Monitoring Networks: Chemical Metrology Applied to the Measurements of Constituents in Air, Water, and Soil
Author(s) -
B. Buchmann,
Jörg Klausen,
Christoph Zellweger
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
chimia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.387
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 2673-2424
pISSN - 0009-4293
DOI - 10.2533/chimia.2009.657
Subject(s) - environmental science , traceability , ozone , methane , carbon monoxide , air quality index , comparability , atmosphere (unit) , atmospheric carbon cycle , meteorology , atmospheric sciences , carbon dioxide , computer science , chemistry , carbon sequestration , geography , geology , biochemistry , mathematics , software engineering , organic chemistry , combinatorics , catalysis
High-quality and long-term comparable time series of the relevant atmospheric observations are the essential prerequisite to understand the dynamical, physical and chemical state of the atmosphere from seasonal to multi-decadal time scales. For relevant gaseous compounds such as ozone, methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO), the requirements are secured by tracing back these observations to common primary standards. Periodical audits of the system in operation and the performance of measurement sites provide additional information about data quality and comparability. The results of 48 audits conducted by the World Calibration Centre for Surface Ozone, Carbon Monoxide and Methane (WCC-Empa) at global stations of the Global Atmosphere Watch programme (GAW) from 1996 to 2009 show that most of the audited sites meet the data quality objectives for ozone and methane whereas the situation is less uniform for carbon monoxide.