Article
 

Carbon monoxide as a tracer of gas transport in snow and other natural porous media

Public Deposited

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/g732d993g

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • The movement of air in natural porous media is complex and challenging to measure. Yet gas transport has important implications, for instance, for the evolution of the seasonal snow cover and for water vapor transport in soil. A novel in situ multi-sensor measurement system providing high-resolution observation of gas transport in snow is demonstrated. Carbon monoxide was selected as the tracer gas for having essentially the same density as air, low background concentration, low water solubility, and for being detectable to ≤ 1 ppmv with small, low-cost, low-power sensors. The plume of 1% CO injections 30 cm below the snow surface was monitored using 28 sensors (4 locations, 7 depths). The CO breakthrough curves obtained at distances of 0.5–1 m were in good agreement with a simple analytical advection-diffusion model. The tracer system appears suitable for a wide range of applications in experimental soil science and hydrology addressing moisture transport and evapotranspiration processes.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Available
Date Issued
Citation
  • Huwald, H., J. S. Selker, S. W. Tyler, M. Calaf, N. C. van de Giesen, and M. B. Parlange (2012), Carbon monoxide as a tracer of gas transport in snow and other natural porous media, Geophysical Research Letters, 39, L02504, doi:10.1029/2011GL050247.
Journal Title
Journal Volume
  • 39
Journal Issue/Number
  • L02504
Academic Affiliation
Rights Statement
Funding Statement (additional comments about funding)
  • This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, grant 200021_107910/1 and200021_109566/1, the Oregon Experiment Station, and the United States National Science Foundation grants 0447415-EAR, 0930061-EAR, 0929638-EAR, and 0943682-EAR.
Publisher
Language
Replaces

Relationships

Parents:

This work has no parents.

Items