An experimental set-up for carbon isotopic analysis of atmospheric CO 2 and an example of ecosystem response during solar eclipse 2010

We present here, an experimental set-up developed for the first time in India for the determination of mixing ratio and carbon isotopic ratio of air-CO₂. The set-up includes traps for collection and extraction of CO₂ from air samples using cryogenic procedures, followed by the measurement of CO₂ mixing ratio using an MKS Baratron gauge and analysis of isotopic ratios using the dual inlet peripheral of a high sensitivity isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) MAT 253. The internal reproducibility (precision) for the δ ¹³C measurement is established based on repeat analyses of CO₂±0.03‰. The set-up is calibrated with international carbonate and air-CO₂ standards. An in-house air-CO₂ mixture, ‘OASIS AIRMIX’ is prepared mixing CO₂ from a high purity cylinder with O₂ and N₂ and an aliquot of this mixture is routinely analyzed together with the air samples. The external reproducibility for the measurement of the CO₂ mixing ratio and carbon isotopic ratios are ±7 (n?=?169) $\upmu $ mol·mol^???1 and ±0.05 (n?=?169) ‰ based on the mean of the difference between two aliquots of reference air mixture analyzed during daily operation carried out during November 2009–December 2011. The correction due to the isobaric interference of N₂O on air-CO₂ samples is determined separately by analyzing mixture of CO₂ (of known isotopic composition) and N₂O in varying proportions. A +0.2‰ correction in the δ ¹³C value for a N₂O concentration of 329 ppb is determined. As an application, we present results from an experiment conducted during solar eclipse of 2010. The isotopic ratio in CO₂ and the carbon dioxide mixing ratio in the air samples collected during the event are different from neighbouring samples, suggesting the role of atmospheric inversion in trapping the emitted CO₂ from the urban atmosphere during the eclipse.