A spectrometer and atmospheric sampling system, usually at home in NPL’s Atmospheric Composition Measurement Laboratory in Teddington, provided simultaneous, precise measurement of methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide at parts-per-billion (i.e. nmol mol-1 amount fraction) sensitivity and water vapour at parts-per-million (μmol mol-1) sensitivity. The instrument was installed at the beginning of October in Glasgow and situated in the observation deck at the top of the Science Centre tower.
The NPL measurements were included on a live dashboard tracking methane and carbon dioxide measurements made at ground level across Glasgow by the UK DECC network, University of Bristol, BEACO2N, Royal Holloway University of London and the University of Strathclyde. The data was also displayed during various events hosted by NPL throughout COP26. The data collected from the instrument demonstrates the importance of metrology in improving greenhouse gas mitigation measures and how important these measures are when it comes to tackling climate change.
The COP26 greenhouse gas data dashboard, where you can view atmospheric greenhouse gas measurements made in Glasgow before and during the COP26 event can be viewed here: https://openghg.github.io/dashboard/