Temporal column abundances of atmospheric nitrous oxide at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Author

John Stewart Hager

Date of Award

12-2001

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Physics

Major Professor

William E. Blass

Committee Members

Tom Handler, Marianne Breinig, Robert Compton

Abstract

This dissertation reports the detection of real time concentration levels of nitrous oxide in the earth's atmosphere at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee and describes the integration of a suntracker with the 5-meter Littrow spectrometric system at the University of Tennessee Complex Systems Laboratory.

Atmospheric nitrous oxide (N₂O) is an important trace gas in the earth's atmosphere. Not only does it have implications to stratospheric ozone depletion, it is an important greenhouse gas. Since the main source of N₂O result from agricultural activities, this study is motivated in part by of the location of the University of Tennessee, which is in a large agricultural area. Tropospheric abundances of N₂O are mostly constant worldwide with only slight local variations due to N₂O sources. This study will quantify any local variations in column abundances of nitrous oxide using ground based solar infrared spectroscopy.

Recommended Citation

Hager, John Stewart, "Temporal column abundances of atmospheric nitrous oxide at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2001.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/8507