Prototype of the Next Generation OH instrument

The lifetime of methane in climate models is uncertain by a factor of two largely because the abundance of the hydroxyl radical, OH, is not well understood.  As a result, new in situ measurements of OH are needed to constrain climate models in the coming decade.  We propose to build a prototype for an in situ OH instrument and demonstrate a new measurement capability in order to position ourselves for instrument development funding opportunities.

We will use this IRAD to build and demonstrate a prototype in situ OH instrument using a new fiber laser that we developed under last year’s IRAD and a new detection system that will be part of this work. We will use FPGA-based data acquisition that we have developed recently, as well as new capabilities aimed specifically at this project.