Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy: Principles and Applications

by Ulrich Platt, Jochen Stutz

Overview

Light is the essential source of information about the surrounding world for most of us. We see objects of different brightness and colours, or, in scientific terms, we distinguish objects by the way they reffect light of different wa- lengths with varying efficiency. It was exciting for both of us to learn that scientific instruments can expand our senses and provide information from this very same radiation that goes far beyond the simple recognition of - jects. Theabilityto“see”thecompositionof theairsurroundingusandabove our heads, to us and others, one of the most fascinating aspects of the app- cation of modern technology to study the atmosphere. This fascination drove many of the applications of the Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) method presented in this book, and continues to be the motivation for many current developments. DOAS is an elegant and powerful analytical method to study the at- sphere and is based on the relatively simple principles of classical absorption spectroscopy. It has therefore always been quite surprising to us that this method has not found wider use in atmospheric research and air-quality m- itoring. We have introduced many university students and researchers to DOAS, often wishing that we could improve our efforts with a comprehensive text that describes both the theoretical basis and the practical applications of the method.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783540211938
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	06/04/2008
Series:	Physics of Earth and Space Environments
Edition description:	2008
Pages:	598
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ulrich Platt is former Director of the Institute of Environmental Physics and Professor emeritus at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany. He is External Scientific Member of the Max-Planck Society. Together with Dieter Perner, he introduced the idea of Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) for which he won the Robert-Wichard-Pohl-Preis 2010 of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (German Physics Society, DPG). He published more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and wrote and edited a number of books.

Jochen Stutz is Professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of California Los Angeles. His group works on the development of spectroscopic remote sensing instruments to measure atmospheric trace gases and its application to study atmospheric chemistry. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed publications. In recent years, his group has worked on improving long-path DOAS instruments for the measurement of BTEX compounds with the goal of further establishing this method as an accurate monitoring tool for refineries and air quality regulators.

Table of Contents

Introduction.- Atmospheric Chemistry.- Interaction of Molecules With Radiation.- Radiation Transport in the Atmosphere.- Measurement Techniques for Atmospheric Trace Gas Concentrations and Other Parameters.- Differential Absorption Spectroscopy.- The Design of Doas Instruments.- Evaluation of Doas Spectra, Sensitivity, and Detection Limits 259.- Scattered-Light Doas Measurements.- Sample Applications of “Active” Doas With Artificial Light Sources.- Sample Application of "Passive" Doas.- Doas: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.