LASER SPECTROSCOPY FOR STABLE-ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF ATMOSPHERIC MOLECULES

Author Institution: EARTH \& SPACE SCIENCES DIVISION, JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYStable-isotope analysis provides valuable constraints on the global budgets of many important atmospheric species (e.g. $CO_{2}, CH_{4}, CO$, and $N_{2}O$). High-resolution laser spectroscopy promises to substantially reduce the laborious sample pre-treatments often required by isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), the incumbent state-of-the-art, as well as being capable of readily resolving isotopic species of nearly equal masses (e.g. $CH_{3}D$ and $^{13}CH_{4}$). However, achieving sensitivity levels similar to that of IRMS has been a daunting task. This talk will provide a brief review of the progress and accomplishment to date in the application of laser spectroscopy to atmospheric stable-isotope analysis