2004/12/01 by Steven W. Sharpe, Timothy J. Johnson, Robert L. Sams +3 · 4 citations
Chemistry · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Atmospheric Ozone and Climate #Spectroscopy and Chemometric Analyses #Spectroscopy and Laser Applications
paper · doi:10.1366/0003702042641281
openalex publication_date 2004/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are each creating quantitative databases containing the vapor-phase infrared spectra of pure chemicals. The digital databases have been created with both laboratory and remote-sensing applications in mind. A spectral resolution of approximate, equals 0.1 cm(-1) was selected to avoid degrading sharp spectral features, while also realizing that atmospheric broadening typically limits line widths to 0.1 cm(-1). Calculated positional (wave- number, cm(-1)) uncertainty is </=0.005 cm(-1), while the 1sigma statistical uncertainty in absorbance values is <2% for most compounds. The latter was achieved by measuring multiple (typically >/=9) path length-concentration burdens and fitting a weighted Beer's law plot to each wavenumber channel. The two databases include different classes of compounds and were compared using 12 samples. Though these 12 samples span a range of polarities, absorption strengths, and vapor pressures, the data agree to within experimental uncertainties with only one exception.