Airborne measurements of oxygen concentration from the surface to the lower stratosphere and pole to pole

We have developed in situ and flask sampling systems for airborne measurements of variations in the O-2/N-2 ratio at the part per million level. We have deployed these instruments on a series of aircraft campaigns to measure the distribution of atmospheric O-2 from 0-14 km and 87 degrees N to 86 degrees S throughout the seasonal cycle. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) airborne oxygen instrument (AO(2)) uses a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) absorption detector for O-2 and also includes an infrared CO2 sensor. The VUV detector has a precision in 5 s of +/- 1:25 per meg (1 sigma) delta(O-2/N-2), but thermal fractionation and motion effects increase this to +/- 2:5-4.0 per meg when sampling ambient air in flight. The NCAR/Scripps airborne flask sampler (Medusa) collects 32 cryogenically dried air samples per flight under actively controlled flow and pressure conditions. For in situ or flask O-2 measurements, fractionation and surface effects can be important at the required high levels of relative precision. We describe our sampling and measurement techniques and efforts to reduce potential biases. We also present a selection of observational results highlighting the individual and combined instrument performance. These include vertical profiles, O-2 : CO2 correlations, and latitudinal cross sections reflecting the distinct influences of terrestrial photosynthesis, air-sea gas exchange, burning of various fuels, and stratospheric dynamics. When present, we have corrected the flask delta(O-2/N-2) measurements for fractionation during sampling or analysis with the use of the concurrent delta(Ar/N-2) measurements. We have also corrected the in situ delta(O-2 /N-2) measurements for inlet fractionation and hu- midity effects by comparison to the corrected flask values. A comparison of Ar/N-2-corrected Medusa flask delta(O-2/N-2) measurements to regional Scripps O-2 Program station observations shows no systematic biases over 10 recent campaigns (+0 :2 +/- 8 :2 per meg, mean and standard deviation, n = 86). For AO2, after resolving sample drying and inlet fractionation biases previously on the order of 10-100 per meg, independent AO2 delta(O-2/N-2) measurements over six more recent campaigns differ from coincident Medusa flask measurements by -0:3 +/- 7:2 per meg (mean and standard deviation, n = 1361) with campaign-specific means ranging from -5 to +5 per meg.

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Related Links

Related Dataset #1 : HIPPO-2 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Flask Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #2 : HIPPO-1 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Kernel Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #3 : START-08 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Flask Data. Version 1.0

Related Dataset #4 : START-08 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Kernel Data. Version 1.0

Related Dataset #5 : HIPPO-4 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Kernel Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #6 : HIPPO-3 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Kernel Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #7 : HIPPO-1 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Flask Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #8 : HIPPO-3 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Flask Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #9 : HIPPO-2 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Kernel Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #10 : ARISTO-2015 Airborne Oxygen Instrument. Version 1.0

Related Dataset #11 : HIPPO-5 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Flask Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #12 : HIPPO-5 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Kernel Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #13 : HIPPO-4 Multiple Enclosure Device for Unfractionated Sampling of Air (MEDUSA) Flask Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #14 : HIPPO Merged 10-Second Meteorology, Atmospheric Chemistry, and Aerosol Data. Version 1.0

Related Dataset #15 : HIPPO MEDUSA Flask Sample Trace Gas And Isotope Data. Version 1.0

Related Dataset #16 : ATom: Merged Atmospheric Chemistry, Trace Gases, and Aerosols

Related Dataset #17 : ATom: L2 In Situ Measurements from the NCAR Airborne Oxygen Instrument (AO2), V2

Related Dataset #18 : ATom: L2 Trace Gas and Isotope Measurements from Medusa Whole Air Sampler, Version 2

Related Dataset #19 : Merged Selected GV Low Rate Flight-Level and Instrument Data and Interpolated GFS Analysis Variables. Version 1.0

Related Dataset #20 : HIPPO-2 Airborne Oxygen Instrument. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #21 : HIPPO-4 Airborne Oxygen Instrument. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #22 : HIPPO-3 Airborne Oxygen Instrument. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #23 : START-08 Airborne Oxygen Instrument. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #24 : ORCAS Medusa Flask Sampler Flask Data. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #25 : HIPPO-1 Airborne Oxygen Instrument. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #26 : ORCAS Airborne Oxygen Instrument. Version 2.0

Related Dataset #27 : ORCAS Merge Products. Version 1.0

Related Dataset #28 : HIPPO-5 Airborne Oxygen Instrument. Version 2.0

Related PhysicalObject #1 : NSF/NCAR GV HIAPER Aircraft

Related PhysicalObject #2 : NSF/NCAR Hercules C130 Aircraft
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Author Stephens, Britton
Morgan, E. J.
Bent, J. D.
Keeling, R. F.
Watt, Andrew S.
Shertz, Stephen R.
Daube, B. C.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2021-04-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2025-07-11T16:16:30.959372
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:24307
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Stephens, Britton, Morgan, E. J., Bent, J. D., Keeling, R. F., Watt, Andrew S., Shertz, Stephen R., Daube, B. C.. (2021). Airborne measurements of oxygen concentration from the surface to the lower stratosphere and pole to pole. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7gb27gv. Accessed 03 November 2025.

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