NIST Activities Related to Global Climate Change

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NIST Activities Related to Global Climate Change

• Hratch G. Semerjian, Director
• Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory

Interagency Group on Climate Change Science July
22, 2002
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National Institute of Standards and Technology
NIST is an agency in the Technology
Administration of the US Department of Commerce.
NIST Assets Include

• 3,000 employees
• 1,600 guest researchers
• 760 million annual budget
• NIST Laboratories -- National measurement
  standards - 400 million budget
• Advanced Technology Program -- 570 million
  current RD partnerships with industry
• Manufacturing Extension Partnership -- 400
  centers nationwide to help small manufacturers
• Baldrige National Quality Award

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NIST enabling a better future
NIST Vision to be the global leader in
measurement and enabling technology, delivering
outstanding value to the nation. NIST Mission
to develop and promote measurement, standards,
and technology to enhance productivity,
facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life.
NIST Laboratories the Nations ultimate
reference point for measurements, standards, and
technology research to support industry, science,
health, safety, and defense.
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NIST Laboratories
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CSTL Goals
Measurement Standards Establish CSTL as the
pinnacle of the national traceability and
international comparability structure for
measurements in chemistry, chemical engineering
and biotechnology, and provide the fundamental
basis of the nations measurement system Chemical
and Process Information Assure that U.S. industry
has access to accurate and reliable data and
predictive models to determine the chemical and
physical properties of materials and
processes Measurement Science Anticipate and
address next generation measurement needs of the
nation, by performing cutting-edge research
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National Standards for Physical Measurements

• Primary Standards for
• Temperature
• Pressure
• Humidity
• Air Speed
• International Comparisons
• to assure global comparability

NIST funding 1.5M
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National Standards for Humidity Measurements
Low Concentrations of Water Vapor in Gases Low
Frost-Point Generator

• Reference for commercial precision humidity
  generators
• LFPG output is linked to thermodynamic properties
  of water
• Precise temp. control enables measurements at ppb
  level
• Direct traceability to national humidity standards

Optical Measurements of Partial Pressure Single
Mode Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy

• Quantitative, high sensitivity optical absorption
  measurements for wide range of species
• Water vapor measurements at 100 ppt a key to next
  generation devices
• Robust technique with demonstrated precision of
  0.3

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Measurements and Standards for Chemical
Composition of the Atmosphere

• Primary Gas Standards
• Spectroscopic Database
• Isotopic Reference Materials
• Ozone Measurements
• Aerosol Characterization
• and
• International Comparisons

NIST funding 1.6M OA Funding 0.4M
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Ground Level Ozone Measurements

• Current Global Network
• Currently all ground level ozone measurements
  worldwide are traceable to NIST SRP
• A series (23) of equivalent photometers are in
  the worldwide network

Global Network Proposed

• Collaboration with BIPM
• Shared responsibility for traceability
  international ozone measurements
• Development of new Primary Reference Photometer
• Manufacture of field instruments could be
  leveraged to private sector

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CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement

• Objectives
• Establish the degree of equivalence of national
  measurement standards maintained by NMIs
• Provide for the mutual recognition of calibration
  and measurement certificates issued by NMIs
• Provide a secure technical foundation for wider
  agreements related to international trade,
  commerce and regulatory affairs

The CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) was
signed in October, 1999 by the directors of the
NMIs of thirty-eight member states of the Metre
Convention, and representatives of two
international organizations.
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CIPM Key and Supplementary Comparisons
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CIPM MRA Appendix B Key Comparison
International Comparison of CO2 Gas Measurements
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Measurements and Standards for Remote Sensing

• NIST provides
• Calibrations of radiometric standards for
  satellites and ground-based remote-sensing
  instruments
• Radiometric calibration support for monitoring
  instruments for solar UV irradiance
• Development of remote-sensing instruments and
  validation methodology
• Calibration of standards for instruments to
  validate satellite data
• Development of microsensor array technologies for
  gas sensing

NIST funding 2.3M OA Funding 1.3M
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Measurements and Standards for Remote Sensing
Interactions with NOAA
NOAA Marine Optical Buoy (MOBY) Validation of
ocean color data with buoy measurements that are
compared to overflying satellites. NIST performs
system level radiometric calibrations of the
spectrographs used for spectral radiance
measurements on the buoy, ensuring a more direct
tie of satellite ocean color data to the NIST
radiance scale.
NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellite (GOES) NIST used a portable, infrared
radiometer (TXR) to verify the radiance
temperature scale improving GOES accuracy through
a more direct tie to the NIST radiance and
radiance temperature scales.
TXR
National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental
Satellite System (NPOESS) Recently established
verification program ensures the accuracy of
global climate change data products of satellite
measurements in the decades to come.
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Measurements and Standards for Remote
SensingCollaborations with NASA
NASA EOS NIST characterizes and calibrates
telescopes for NASA EOS and USGS to be used to
calibrate the reflectance of the Moon
NIST provides a calibrated source of
vacuum-ultraviolet radiation in a dedicated
beamline at SURF for calibration of NASA
vacuum-UV solar irradiance satellite instruments
NISTAR Designed to fly on NASAs Triana
satellite in an L1 orbit and provide solar
reflected and thermal emitted radiation
measurements of the full sunlit face of Earth
NISTAR is calibrated using a new
laser-illuminated integrating sphere method
SeaWiFs NIST calibrates NASAs ocean-color
satellite instrument. NIST also developed
portable transfer radiometers to enable direct
checks of satellite instrument calibration sources
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Microsensor Arrays
Cost-effective, silicon micromachined, thin-film
sensor array technology for multi-analyte,
real-time detection of gases

• Multi-component selectivity via response pattern
  recognition algorithms tested CO, CO2, organics,
  and pesticides
• Novel temperature programmed sensing (TPS) is
  enabled by thermal interrogation rapid heating
  capabilities (gt800 C), short time constants
  (lt2ms)
• Potential for real-time, immediate ( 1 sec),
  on-site analysis well suited for process control
  detecting reaction products, exhaust gases, or
  gas leaks

External Collaborators U. of MD CPAC, MIT
Lincoln Laboratories, DoD ,DoE

• Patented multi-layered gas sensor arrays
• Miniature metal oxide conductometric sensors are
  chemically-modifiable resistors

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Evaluated Reference Data

• Atmospheric Chemistry
• Kinetics and Lifetimes
• Properties of Alternative Refrigerants
• Environmental Impact of Fire Suppressants
• Fluid Properties (VLE, Solubilities, etc)
• Spectral Data on GWGs

NIST funding 1.6M OA Funding 0.7M
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NIST Chemical Kinetics Database
A unique tool for producers and users of
gas-phase kinetic data

• 50 more reaction rates than previous release
  data coverage current through 1998
• 37,400 rate constants
• 15,000 reactions with 11,400 distinct reactant
  sets
• 9,000 compounds
• 11,200 references
• Includes data on
• Oxidation of hydrocarbons
• Ozone depletion potential of halogenated
  compounds
• Global warming potential of gases
• Kinetics of combustion processes

Users may view multiple windows, including units,
equation forms, references, and plots.
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National Biomonitoring Specimen BankEnables
retrospective environmental research and provides
for future verification of analytical results
National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank Alaska Marine
Mammal Tissue Archival Project Fat, liver,
kidney (1987 - present, MMS/USGS) Marine Mammal
Health Stranding Response Program Fat, liver,
kidney (1990 - present, NOAA)
National Status Trends Program Mussels,
oyster, sediments, fish liver and muscle (1985 -
1992, NOAA) Seabird Tissue Archival and
Monitoring Project Seabird eggs (1998 - present,
USGS/BRD USFWS)
NIST funding 1.0M OA Funding 0.3M
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Future Activities

• Global Comparability of Atmospheric Composition
  Measurements
• Aerosol Characterization Standards
• Reference data relevant to CO2 sequestration
• Evaluation of GWP Data
• Expanded Specimen Bank
• Microsensing Technologies