An international consortium promoting iDirac VOC developments

Atmospheric measurements of isoprene and other volatile organic compounds (VOC) are limited in much of the world. This stems from having few instruments which are robust, can be run autonomously in real-world conditions, and are reasonably low cost. One such instrument is the iDirac, developed with NERC funding, which was designed to meet these criteria and to measure isoprene. In this project, we will establish an international network of research scientists who are committed to expanding the available longer-term observations of isoprene and monoterpenes in undersampled regions and to developing innovative lower-cost alternatives, flux and atmospheric reactivity measurements. Such developments would greatly enhance our understanding of the fluxes of biogenic species and of the oxidative removal of these and many other trace species from the atmosphere. The partners are Alex Guenther (UC Irvine, USA), Yuan Bin (Jinan University, PRC), and Kerneels Jaars (SAEON, RSA) who contribute a unique set of expertise and facilities. The group will work together on three main topics: (i) improving the instrument design for better performance and ease of construction and deployment; (ii) piloting new uses (extending the range of species measured, deploying in new, under-sampled locations, and integrating it into new systems novel applications); (iii) identifying new opportunities for development and deployment. This will be achieved through a mix of on-line collaboration, exchange of expertise and personnel, and use of measurement facilities. The ultimate objective is to kickstart an international group working collegiately on iDirac-related developments, loosely analogous to the grass-roots, collegiate approach used for the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN).