No aspect of global warming and greenhouse gases is as widely recognized and as politically and socio-economically complex as rising atmospheric CO₂ levels related to fossil fuels. The average value today is around 390 ppmv, with seasonal variations reflecting the different plant mass in the northern and southern hemispheres. Water vapor also acts as a greenhouse gas but its level is more a secondary result of climate change - involving several complex feedback cycles - rather than emissions from human/industrial activity. The Picarro G1200 enables the extremely precise and simultaneous measurements of both these key species at their ambient levels. No dilution, concentration or other sample prep is required. So the analyzer can be operated as a remote, unattended monitoring station or used equally well as a laboratory reference instrument on captured samples and ancient ice-core samples for example. As regulations and protocols are established for greenhouse gases, the ability of the same instrument to perform lab and field measurements can be a key benefit.

Because the analyzer is based on WS-CRDS technology there is no crosstalk between the CO₂ and H₂O detection channels, and both are channels are unaffected by changes in other gas species, including CH4. Also, data are immune to changes in ambient temperature and pressure. Best of all, the analyzer can operate for months between calibrations.

Picarro's WS-CRDS analyzers allow data to be accessed in real time through serial, USB and Ethernet protocols, and can be equipped with an analog output option as well. The data is continuously archived in ASCII-formatted files on an internal hard drive - this is ideal in situations where the analyzer may be located remotely during long measurement campaigns and in which data retrieval or remote connectivity may be infrequent. The analyzers are also designed to automatically restart themselves and resume data collection if there is a temporary loss of power.

- Simultaneous, precise measurement of CO₂ and H₂O
- PPB sensitivity, precision & accuracy with virtually no drift
- Fast, continuous, real time measurements without interference
- Large dynamic range with high linearity
- Field and laboratory deployable with no consumables
- Installed and operational in minutes
- Rugged and insensitive to changes in ambient temperature

Precision and stability of the Picarro analyzer over a month of operation without calibration.

Subset of a 45-day NOAA field trial comparing atmospheric CO₂ data taken by a Picarro G1200 analyzer with that from NOAA's NDIR analyzer. The Picarro analyzer was calibrated only once over the 45-day period, whereas the NDIR analyzer required calibration every 4 hours. The average difference is < 180 ppbv/day. The Picarro analyzer was able to sample unconditioned gas and drifted < 0.8 ppbv/day.