Slant Column Measurements of O3 and NO2 During the NDSC Intercomparison of Zenith-Sky UV-Visible Spectrometers in June 1996

In June 1996, 16 UV-visible sensors from 11 institutes measured spectra of the zenith sky for more than 10 days. Spectra were analysed in real-time to determine slant column amounts of O3 and NO2. Spectra of Hg lamps and lasers were measured, and the amount of NO2 in a cell was determined by each spectrometer. Some spectra were re-analysed after obvious errors were found. Slant columns were compared in two ways: by examining regression analyses against comparison instruments over the whole range of solar zenith angles; and by taking fractional differences from a comparison instrument at solar zenith angles between 85° and 91°. Regression identified which pairs of instruments were most consistent, and so which could be used as universal comparison instruments. For O3, regression slopes for the whole campaign agreed within 5% for most instruments despite the use of different cross-sections and wavelength intervals, whereas similar agreement was only achieved for NO2 when the same cross-sections and wavelength intervals were used and only one half-day's data was analysed. Mean fractional differences in NO2 from a comparison instrument fall within ±7% (1-sigma) for most instruments, with standard deviations of the mean differences averaging 4.5%. Mean differences in O3 fall within ±2.5% (1- sigma) for most instruments, with standard deviations of the mean differences averaging 2%. Measurements of NO2 in the cell had similar agreement to measurements of NO2 in the atmosphere, but for some instruments measurements with cell and atmosphere relative to a comparison instrument disagreed by more than the error bars.     

Estimating water fluxes in the critical zone using water stable isotope approaches in the Groundnut and Ferlo basins of Senegal

Sustainable water management in semi-arid agriculture practices requires quantitative knowledge of water fluxes within the soil-vegetation-atmosphere system. Therefore, we used stable-isotope approaches to evaluate evaporation (E_a), transpiration (T_a), and groundwater recharge (R) at sites in Senegal's Groundnut basin and Ferlo Valley pasture region during the pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons of 2021. The approaches were based upon (i) the isothermal evaporation model (for quantifying E_a); (ii) water and isotope mass balances (to partition E_a and T_a for groundnut and pasture); and (iii) the piston displacement method (for estimating R). E_a losses derived from the isothermal evaporation model corresponded primarily to Stage II evaporation, and ranged from 0.02 to 0.09 mm d⁻¹ in the Groundnut basin, versus 0.02–0.11 mm d⁻¹ in Ferlo. At the groundnut site, E_a rates ranged from 0.01 to 0.69 mm d⁻¹; T_a was in the range 0.55–2.29 mm d⁻¹; and the T_a/ET_a ratio was 74%–90%. At the pasture site, the ranges were 0.02–0.39 mm d⁻¹ for E_a; 0.9–1.69 mm d⁻¹ for T_a; and 62–90% for T_a/ET_a. The ET_a value derived for the groundnut site via the isotope approach was similar to those from eddy covariance measurements, and also to the results from the previous validated HYDRUS-1D model. However, the HYDRUS-1D model gave a lower T_a/ET_a ratio (23.2%). The computed groundwater recharge for the groundnut site amounted to less than 2% of the local annual precipitation. Recommendations are made regarding protocols for preventing changes to isotopic compositions of water in samples that are collected in remote arid regions, but must be analysed days later. The article ends with suggestions for studies to follow up on evidence that local aquifers are being recharged via preferential pathways.