In this section, you will find links to documents and videos of our training sessions on topics
such as monitoring of VOCs (techniques, calibration, quality assessment...), uncertainty calculation,
metrological vocabulary and many more.
November 2021
Virtual workshop on VOCs: bringing in situ and remote communities together for a better data uncertainty estimation
14/10/2021
In the framework of the project MetClimVOC, we organized a virtual workshop divided into four sessions addressing the following topics:
Session 1: Toward accurate and comparable VOC measurements — Challenges, needs and efforts
Introduction to the EMPIR MetClimVOC project and objectives (Céline Pascale, METAS): the project "Metrology for Climate relevant Volatile Organic Compounds" (MetClimVOC), granted by the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research of the European Association of National Metrology Institutes ( EURAMET-EMPIR), was described during this talk. Information about the consortium, project structure, objectives and first results was provided.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - introduction to the project MetClimVOC VOC monitoring in the ACTRIS network: in situ and remote (Paolo Laj, ACTRIS): the Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) was introduced in this talk, highlighting aspects as the traceability of data sets and procedures, collaborations with National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) to define primary standards and the harmonization of procedures at a wider scale (e.g. GAW/WMO, EMEP).
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - VOC monitoring in the ACTRIS network Importance of data quality for modellers and end users (Stefan Reimann, Empa): concerning quality assurance, researchers' soft skills are as important as hardware components (e.g. adequate measuring instrument, traceability of calibration gases). In this presentation, indications about periodic maitenance, documentation and data control were introduced. Moreover, examples on VOC data checks and tools (i.e. ATmospheric VOC Assessment Tool) were described.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Importance of data quality Introduction on uncertainty basic concepts (Gang Li, PTB): During this presentation, different metrological concepts were introduced. Brief descriptions about the International System of Units, key comparisons, types of uncertainties and relevant documents, where more information on the topic can be found, were given.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Uncertainty basic concepts Session 2: In situ VOC measurements — Metrological aspects and uncertainty
Static reference gas mixture preparation and uncertainty(Stefan Persijn, VSL):in this presentation, the preparation of static reference gas mixtures (RGMs) was described, showing the traceability of the process and the main contributors to the uncertainty of the preparation.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Preparation and uncertainty of static gas mixtures Dynamic reference gas mixture preparation and uncertainty: permeation and diffusion methods (Maitane Iturrate-Garcia, METAS and Maricarmen Lecuna, POLITO): Two dynamic methods — permeation and diffusion — to prepare reference gas mixtures were described during this presentation. Detailed information on uncertainty sources of the methods were given.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Preparation and uncertainty of dynamic gas mixtures Implementation of automatic validation parameters for continuous quantification of VOCs in ambient air using dual TD-GC FID-MS (Fanny Bachelier, Cromatotec/ICARE-CNRS (UPR3021): The experimental setup, initial characterisation of the instruments used and the procedure followed to implement automatic validation parameters for continuous quantification of VOCs in ambient air were described during the presentation.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Validation parameters for continuous VOC quantification Improvement of VOC measurement methods: challenges and best practices (Thérèse Salameh, IMT Nord Europe): Preliminary results on the tests performed by the consortium of the MetClimVOC project to improve the existing sampling methods were described. The overview focused on the results of sampling line materials, water removal systems and ozone scrubbers for oxygenated VOCs, terpenes and halogenated VOCs.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Improvement of VOC measurement methods Session 3: Comparisons and verification of different measurement methods — Remote, ground based and in situ
Dynamic generation of formaldehyde standards and their analysis by FTIR — methods and uncertainties (Joële Viallon, BIPM): During this presentation, the dynamic methods (permeation and diffusion) used at BIPM to generate formaldehyde in nitrogen standards were described. Purity assessment using FTIR spectroscopy and the uncertainty budget of the generated reference gas mixtures were also shown. The presentation finished with the description of the intercomparison exercise CCQM-K90 on formaldehyde.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Generation and FTIR analysis of formaldehyde standards Comparing ground-based remote sensing measurements to in situ measurements at Jungfraujoch (Bart Dils, BIRA): After presenting the monitoring station of Jungfraujoch (Switzerland), an example of uncertainty budget of the formaldehyde total colum retrievals was given in detail. The presentation finished with results from comparison campaigns between ground-based remote sensing measurements and in situ measurements at Jungfraujoch.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Comparing remote sensing and in situ measurements Session 4: Remote sensing VOC measurements — Metrological aspects and uncertainty
Comparison of spectroscopic data of SF6: their impact on retrieved atmospheric abundances of SF6 and derived mean age of stratospheric air (Gabriele Stiller, KIT-MIK): After a brief description of MIPAS, results on the comparison of fits with different absorption cross sections of SF6 and the impact of the new cross-section on SF6 distributions were presented.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Improvement of VOC measurement methods HITRAN2020 and remote sensing of the terrestrial atmosphere (Iouli Gordon, Harvard CfA): In this presentation, a detailed description of the updated HITRAN database — H2020 — was given, highlighting improvements and new tools, such as the free open source Python module HAPI.
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Improvement of VOC measurement methods High-resolution FTIR absorption cross-section measurements at PTB (Gang Li, PTB): Within MetClimVOC project framework, first steps and current experiments towards SI-traceable absorption cross-sections of halogenated VOCs were presented. Improvements on the pressure, length, temperature and baseline were described, as well as the software developed for batch evaluation of absorption cross sections (including uncertainty calculation).
MetClimVOC M18 workshop - Improvement of VOC measurement methods March 2021
Virtual training on metrology of VOC atmospheric measurements
17/03/2021
Training introduction
In the framework of the project MetClimVOC, we organized a virtual training addressing the topics described below.
Atmospheric measurements of volatile organic compounds at monitoring stations (Rainer Steinbrecher, KIT): the VOC monitoring networks of Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) and of the upcoming European Research Infrastructure on Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases (ACTRIS) were shortly introduced with its key objective of providing high quality data of known uncertainty. Necessary data quality assurance and control processes, as well as the success of the measures in the GAW-VOC network were shown. MetClimVOC M10 training - atmospheric measurements of VOCs
Metrological vocabulary and traceability (Bernhard Niederhauser, METAS): during this presentation, metrological terms and concepts, such as measurand, uncertainty, calibration hierarchy and traceability to the international system of units were clarified.
MetClimVOC M10 training - metrological vocabulary
Preparation, traceability and uncertainty of static reference gas mixtures (Annarita Baldan, VSL):in this presentation, the preparation of static reference gas mixtures (RGMs) was described, showing the traceability of the process and the main contributors to the uncertainty of the preparation.
MetClimVOC M10 training - static RGMs
Generation, traceability and uncertainty of dynamic reference gas mixtures (Maitane Iturrate-Garcia, METAS): the system used to generate dynamic primary RGMs using the permeation method was described, showing the traceability of the generation process and the main contributors to the uncertainty of the generated RGMs. An example of secondary RGMs was briefly shown.
MetClimVOC M10 training - dynamic RGMs