Influence of N2O on isotope analyses in CO2 and mass-spectrometric determination of N2O in air samples

H. Friedli; U. Siegenthaler

doi:10.3402/tellusb.v40i2.15633

Influence of N2O on isotope analyses in CO2 and mass-spectrometric determination of N2O in air samples

Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology

Volume 40 (1988): Issue 2

By: H. Friedli and U. Siegenthaler

Open Access

|Jan 1988

Abstract

If CO₂ is cryogenically separated from atmospheric air for mass-spectrometric isotope analysis, the presence of N₂O simultaneously condensed makes it necessary to correct the isotope results. The corrections were experimentally determined by analyzing N₂O-CO₂ gas mixtures. The results are in good agreement with those of Mook and van der Hoek. A massspectrometric method for determining N₂O/CO₂ partial pressure ratios is discussed. During our experiments, we found that N₂O can be produced in a Penning cold cathode manometer.

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