Non-CO2 greenhouse gases at Cape Grim

The AGAGE in situ program for non-CO2 greenhouse gases at Cape Grim, 2009–2010

Abstract

This report summarises in situ observations at Cape Grim of atmospheric trace gases that are involved in strato-spheric ozone depletion, climate change and tropo-spheric chemistry. During 2009-2010, two instruments continued to operate at Cape Grim as part of the Ad-vanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE): (1) a composite gas chromatograph-multi detector (GC-MD) instrument; and (2) an advanced gas chromatogra-phy-mass spectrometry (GC-MS-Medusa) instrument. A GC-ECD instrument for solely measuring sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) continued to operate until 7 July 2009, when it was decommissioned. In 2009-2010 over 50 spe-cies were measured on the three instruments, including CH4, N2O, CO, H2, six CFCs (-11, -12, -13, -113, -114, -115), five HCFCs (-22, -123, -124,  141b, -142b), eleven HFCs ( 23, -32, -125, -134a, -143a, -152a, -227ea, -236fa,  245fa, -365mfc, -43-10mee), three PFCs (-14, -116,  218), three halons (-1201, -1301, -2402), seven chloro-carbons (CH3Cl, CH2Cl2, CHCl3, CCl4, CH3CCl3, CHClCCl2, CCl2CCl2), three bromocarbons (CH3Br, CHBr3, CH2Br2), one iodocarbon (CH3I), three sulfur compounds (SF6, SO2F2, COS) and three hydrocarbons (C2H6, C6H6, C7H8). Some of these species are measured on more than one instrument.

Also summarised are details of each instrumental sys-tem, the calibration strategies used, instrument per-formance, and data collected during 2009-2010.