KOSEN 한인과학기술자네트워크

(SBIR) DOE - Atmospheric Measurement Technology Primary Sponsor: Department of Energy Deadline: 2/20/2001 KEYWORDS a. Trace Gas Measurements Aboard Aircraft b. Radiometric Instrumentation c. Automatic Measurement and Characterization of Cloud Particles d. Instrumentation for Characterizing Organic Substances in Aerosol Particles World-wide energy production is modifying the chemical composition of the atmosphere and is linked with environmental degradation and human health problems. The radiative transfer properties of the atmosphere may be changing as well. Various technological developments are needed for high accuracy and/or long term monitoring of these changes to support a strategy of sustainable and pollution-free energy development for the future. Grant applications must propose Phase I bench tests of critical technologies. Critical technologies are those components, materials, equipment, or processes that significantly limit current capabilities in one of the specific subtopics that follow. For example, grant applications proposing only computer modeling without physical testing will be considered non-responsive. Grant applications should also describe the purpose and benefits of any proposed teaming arrangements with government laboratories or universities in the technical approach or work plan. Applications submitted to any of the subtopics should support claims of commercial potential for proposed technologies, (e.g., endorsements from relevant industrial sectors, market analysis, or identification of potential spin-offs). Grant applications are sought only in the following subtopics: a. Trace Gas Measurements Aboard Aircraft¾Studies of the sources and fates of nitrogen compounds and oxidants in the troposphere require the development of innovative instrumentation. Grant applications are sought to develop instruments to measure concentrations of ammonia (NH3) and nitric acid vapor (HNO3) in the lower few kilometers of the atmosphere. The instruments must be sufficiently small, lightweight, and low in power consumption for use aboard medium or small aircraft (e.g. CONVAIR, Gulf Stream 1, Twin Otter, Dash 7, and smaller) that are flown at these altitudes over urban and regional distances (i.e., several hundred miles). Proposed systems must be capable of providing real-time measurements (i.e., the time for both sampling and response should be less than one minute) and be sufficiently sensitive to detect concentrations as low as 0.01-0.05 parts per billion. Grant applications must include detailed descriptions of the instrumentation (including how it will connect to the atmosphere, for the purpose of sampling, without interference from intake losses or other confounding factors) and demonstrate how the proposed technique will result in improved aircraft measurement capabilities. Promising approaches for measuring nitric acid include chemical ionization mass spectroscopy (CIMS) and tunable diode laser (TDL) infrared spectroscopy. In addition, other potential candidate technologies and related sampling problems have been identified in the literature. For the measurement of ammonia, photofragmentation-laser-induced flourescence (PD-LIF) has shown the potential for 5 ppt detection with 5-minute integration times. b. Radiometric Instrumentation¾ Measurements of shortwave solar radiation (0.3 to 3.0 micrometers) and thermal radiation (3 to 100 micrometers) provide necessary information about the chemical and physical state of the atmosphere and earth's surface. Current broadband solar instruments include pyranometers, pyreheliometers, and shadowband radiometers while solar spectral instruments include scanning filter photometers, shadowband radiometers, and spectroradiometers. Thermal instruments include broadband infrared radiometers (pyrgeometers), interferometers, and grating spectrometers. Grant applications are solicited to develop radiometric instrumentation or radiometer components that: (1) improve current performance of broadband shortwave radiometers (e.g., it is desirable to achieve consistent one percent accuracy by eliminating the need for domed covers and/or other sources of uncertainty such as angle of incidence, temperature, pressure, and humidity effects on detectors, optical components, and windows); (2) significantly reduce drift, poor angular response, dome and window contamination (e.g., dust and water) errors, nighttime offsets, thermal imbalance errors, leveling sensitivity or other sources of error; (3) significantly reduce the cost of ancillary equipment such as solar seekers and trackers without degrading performance; or (4) improve the current performance of pyrgeometers to measure hemispherical irradiance in the infrared (3 to 50 micrometers) region (e.g., it is desirable to avoid contamination by solar radiation and to develop improved methods of calibration). Applicants may focus on critical components and ancillary equipment for radiometers including detectors, radiation standards and calibration methods, filter systems and monochromators, and solar tracker/seekers. Applications that make only incremental improvements to existing radiometric devices will be declined. c. Automatic Measurement and Characterization of Cloud Particles¾ There is a need to develop miniaturized instrumentation for automatic measurement and characterization of cloud particles. Grant applications are sought to develop instruments for measuring the size of cloud particles from about 5 to 1,000 :m and provide information on particle shape and the degree of particle riming. Of particular interest are instruments that can also measure the scattering phase function and provide some measure of polarization properties. Data from the instrument must be recorded digitally (i.e., not on a VCR) and particle sizing must be accomplished without the need for extensive manual analysis of the data. Instruments must be capable of operating continuously in moderate icing conditions and should weigh less than 8 kg. The instrument must also be suitable for deployment on tethered balloons/kite platforms and small, unpiloted aerospace vehicles (UAVs). d. Instrumentation for Characterizing Organic Substances in Aerosol Particles¾ Important insights into atmospheric pollution can be gained by understanding the characteristics and temporal changes of organic substances in ambient atmospheric aerosol particles with diameters less than about 2.5 micrometers. Grant applications are sought to develop instrumentation for real-time measurements that will: (1) provide accurate estimates of both mass and speciation of organic matter as a function of particle size; (2) detect the changing degree of oxygenation of the organics in aerosols, in order to evaluate the photochemical evolution of the organic aerosol; or (3) identify isotopic and molecular-level tracers of primary and secondary organic carbon, in order to help understand the origins of the fine particulate matter. The instrumentation and associated systems must account for such factors as polarity and water solubility, and must be capable of extended operation in an outdoor, field environment. Methods are needed that will provide accurate measurements of the organic aerosols with minimal artifacts (for example, semivolatile organics are known to absorb and desorb from filter media used to collect the organic aerosol samples) for both field and aircraft operations and for both organic carbon and black carbon. Examples of past approaches include determining 14C/12C isotopic ratios as a means of estimating fossil/biogenic hydrocarbon contributions to the aerosols, optical measurements of the "blackness" of the sample as a means of determining black carbon (soot) contributions, and thermal evolution techniques. Please note: (1) The technical topics are to be interpreted literally; DOE personnel are not permitted to further interpret the narrative description of the technical topics. (2) The award selection process is extremely competitive. Last year, only 1 out of 6 grant applications were awarded. Only those applications with the highest scientific/technical quality will be competitive. References Chou, M. D. and Peng, L., "A Parameterization of the Absorption in the 15 Micron CO2 Spectral Region with Application to Climate Sensitivity Studies," Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 40:2183-2192, September 1983. (ISSN: 0022-4928)Daum, P. H., et al., "Analysis of the Processing of Nashville Urban Emissions on July 3 and July 18, 1995," Journal of Geophysical Research, 105(7):9155-9164, April1 6, 2000. (ISSN: 0148-0227)Eatough, D. J., et al., "A Multiple-System Multi-Channel Diffusion Denuder Sampler for the Determination of Fine-Particulate Organic Material in the Atmosphere," Atmospheric Environment, Part A: General Topics, 27A(8):1213-1219, June 1993. (ISSN: 0004-6981)Ellingson, R. G., et al., "The Intercomparison of Radiation Codes Used in Climate Models - Long Wave Results," Journal of Geophysical Research, 96:8929-8953, May 20, 1991. (ISSN: 0148-0227)Fehsenfeld, F. C., etal., "Ground-Based Intercomparison of Nitric Acid Measurement Techniques," Journal of Geophysical Research, 103(3): 3343-3353, 1998. (ISSN: 0148-0227)Gogou, A. I.; Apostolaki, M. and Stephanou, E. G., "Determination of Organic Molecular Markers in Marine Aerosols and Sediments: One Step Flash Chromatography Compound Class Fractionation an Capillary Gas Chromatographic Analysis," Journal of Chromatography, 799(1-2):215-231, March 13, 1998. (ISSN: 0021-9673)Grant, W. B., "Water Vapor Absorption Coefficients in the 8-13-Micron Spectral Region - A Critical Review," Applied Optics, 29(4):451-462, 1990. (ISSN: 0003-6935)Grosjean, D., Williams II, E. L, and Novakov, T., "Evolved Gas Analysis of Secondary Organic Aerosols," Aerosol Science and Technology, 21(4):306-324, 1994. (ISSN: 0278-6826)Hansen, A. D. A., et al., "The Aethalometer–An Instrument for the Real-Time Measurement of Optical Absorption by Aerosol Particles," paper present at the International Conference on Carbonaceous Particles in the Atmosphere, Linz, Austria, September 11, 1983, Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, August 1983. (DOE Report No. LBL-16106) (NTIS Order No. DE84000400)*Harrison, L., et al., "Automated Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer: An Instrument for Optical Depth and Radiation Measurements," Applied Optics, 33:5118-5125, 1994. (ISSN: 0003-6935)Hill, M. L., "Designing a Mini-RPV for a World Endurance Record," Astronautics and Aeronautics, 20:47-54, November 1982. (ISSN: 0004-6213)Lawson, R. P., et al., "Shapes, Sizes and Light Scattering Properties of Ice Crystals in Cirrus and a Persistent Contrail During SUCCESS," Geophysical Research Letters, 25(9):1331-1334, May 1, 1998. (ISSN: 0094-8276) (Available from American Geophysical Union. Telephone: 202-462-6900)Miloshevich, L. M. and Heymsfield, A. H., "A Balloon-Borne Continuous Cloud Particle Replicator for Measuring Vertical Profiles of Cloud Microphysical Properties: Instrument Design, Performance, and Collection Efficiency Analysis," Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 14(4):753-768, August 1997. (ISSN: 0739-0572)Novakov, T. and Corrigan, C. E., Influence of Sample Composition on Aerosol Organic and Black Carbon Determination, paper presented at the Chapman Conference on Biomass Burning and Global Change, Williamburg, VA, March 13-17, 1995, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, July 1995. (DOE Report No. LBL-37513) (NTIS Order No. DE96001311)*Schiff, H. I., et al., "A Tunable Diode Laser System for Aircraft Measurements of Trace Gases," Journal of Geophysical Research C, Oceans and Atmospheres, 95(7):10147-10153, June 20, 1990. (ISSN: 0196-2256)Spicer, C. W., et al. "A Laboratory in the Sky: New Frontiers in Measurements Aloft," Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 28(9):412A-420A, September 1994. (ISSN: 0013-936X)Stamnes, K., et al., Proceedings of the Ninth Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Science Team Meeting, San Antonio, TX, March 22-26, 1999.Stephens, G. L., et al., "The Relevance of the Microphysical and Radiative Properties of Cirrus Clouds to Climate and Climatic Feedback," Journal of Atmosheric Sciences, 47(14)1742-1753, July 15, 1990. (ISSN: 0022-4928)Tanner, R. L. and Gaffney, J. S., Carbon Isotopes as Tracers of Biogenic and Fossil-Fuel Derived Carbon Transport in the Atmosphere, [Paper presented at the 189th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Miamai, FL, April 28, 1985.] Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Energy., December 1984. (DOE Report No. BNL-35791) (NTIS Order No. DE85005958)Williams, E. J., et al., "An Intercomparison of Five Ammonia Measurement Techniques," Journal of Geophysical Research C, Oceans and Atmospheres, 97(11):11591-11611, 1992. (ISSN: 0196-2256) * See Section 7.1 NOTE: The Solicitations listed on this site are copies from the various SBIR agency solicitations and are not necessarily the latest and most up-to-date. For this reason, you should always use the suggested link below. This will take you directly to the appropriate agency information where you can read the official version of the solicitation you are interested in. The official link for this page is: http://sbir.er.doe.gov/sbir/Solicitations/FY%202001/2001.htm. Solicitation closing date is February 20, 2001.