Demonstration of high-precision continuous measurements of water vapor isotopologues in laboratory and remote field deployments using wavelength-scanned cavity ring-down spectroscopy (WS-CRDS) technology

This study demonstrates the application of Wavelength-Scanned Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (WS-CRDS) technology which is used to measure the stable isotopic composition of water. This isotopic water analyzer incorporates an evaporator system that allows liquid water as well as water vapor to be measured with high precision. The analyzer can measure (H2O)-O-18, (H2O)-O-16 and (HDO)-O-16 content of the water sample simultaneously. The results of a laboratory test and two field trials with this analyzer are described. The results of these trials show that the isotopic water analyzer gives precise, accurate measurements with little or no instrument drift for the two most common isotopologues of water. In the laboratory the analyzer has a precision of 0.5 per mil for delta D and 0.1 per mil for delta O-18 which is similar to the precision obtained by laboratory-based isotope ratio mass spectrometers. In the field, when measuring vapor samples, the analyzer has a precision of 1.0 per mil for delta D and 0.2 per mil for delta O-18. These results demonstrate that the isotopic water analyzer is a powerful tool that is appropriate for use in a wide range of applications and environments. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.