SUNNYVALE, Calif. - (Business Wire) Picarro, Inc., the maker of the world's highest performance and easiest to use gas analyzers, today announced that the company’s analyzer will be used by the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) World Calibration Centre for Greenhouse Gases to conduct on-site system and performance audits at Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) baseline stations. WMO scientists will leverage Picarro’s technology to enhance the accuracy of GHG measurements taken throughout the world. WMO is the United Nations’ authoritative voice on the state and behavior of the Earth's atmosphere, including its weather and climate, its interaction with the oceans, and the resulting distribution of water resources. “One of the primary goals of WMO is to promote standardization of meteorological and atmospheric observations. Consequently, calibration, quality assurance and standard-operating procedures are paramount for reliable long-term measurements in the current greenhouse gas network,” says Leonard Barrie, director of the WMO Research Department. “Participants in the unique international WMO-GAW Global Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Network require instruments to: (i) meet accuracy and precisions set by a WMO-GAW international group of experts, (ii) be exceptionally stable over time, (iii) be resistant to temperature changes and (iv) be durable enough for global transport, thereby reducing the need for calibration.”
Carbon dioxide measurements gathered from hundreds of stations around the world are required to be traceable to WMO primary standards maintained by the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). To improve and validate their quality control, WMO atmospheric scientists identified a need to verify the measurements taken at each station. Auditors from the WMO’s World Calibration Centre for Carbon Dioxide at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) conducting inter-comparison measurements at these stations required an easily transportable instrument capable of functioning in remote locations without compromising accuracy.
At the September 2009 CO2 Experts Meeting in Jena, Germany, which included several presentations by leading atmospheric scientists using Picarro instruments, WMO’s World Calibration Centre, supported by Empa, approached Picarro. The capabilities of Picarro’s instruments make them the ideal tool to help WMO evaluate the quality of their GAW measurements.
“We can think of no better technical validation of our analyzer than being selected as a performance auditing tool by WMO,” says Michael Woelk, CEO of Picarro. “To be part of the unique WMO global greenhouse gas network is an honor, and it is a testament to Picarro’s commitment to transforming how and where GHG measurements are taken.”
About Picarro
Picarro, Inc. is a privately held company dedicated to developing instrumentation for the precise measurement and identification of specific molecules of interest to environmental and atmospheric scientists, geophysicists, and others monitoring the effects of global warming and change. The company is a leader in cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) technology with eight exclusive licenses to Stanford University patents and nine of its own on CRDS extensions. For more information, please visit the Picarro website at www.picarro.com.
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Jason Morris or Heather Craft, 415-512-0770
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Picarro, Inc
Iain Green, 408-962-3942
igreen@picarro.com
