Capabilities and Instrumentation

Our team focuses on analysis of environmental contaminants and environmental modeling. The following lists our instrumentation and computational capabilities.

Computational Capabilities

We own compute nodes totaling 60 total cores that are operated and maintained by the Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) at the University of Utah. Details about the hardware and cluster configuration are on the CHPC website. We also own 10 TB of home directory storage and 147 TB for group data storage on the cluster.

Analytical Laboratory

Our analytical laboratory contains a broad array of instrumentation to analyze environmental samples, including the list below.; More information about analyses we perform is available on our analytical laboratory webpage

  • A Thermo Evolution 600 UV-Vis spectrophotometer
  • A Shimadzu Nexera LC-40 high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC). We primarily use this instrument for analysis of carbonyls (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, etc.) in water and ambient air (with DNPH cartridges).
  • A Mettler Toledo XP6 microbalance and accessories that we use for gravimetric analysis PM2.5 filter samples and permeation tubes used to calibrate mercury instrumentation.
  • A Thermo XSeries 2 ICP-MS
  • A Thermo Flash 2000 elemental analyzer
  • A Shimadzu TOC-V with an SSM-5000A attachment for water and soil analysis of organic and inorganic carbon
  • An Anton Paar SVM 3000 viscometer, which we use to determine the viscosity of different crude oils from the region
  • A Shimadzu QP2010 Ultra gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) with a direct probe. We primarily use this instrument to detect gas-phase oxidized mercury compounds. It includes a custom-built preconcentrator for this purpose.
  • A Shimadzu QP2010 GC/GC/MS with a COMBI-PAL autosampler (AOC-5000). This instrument is configured for analysis of speciated volatile organic compounds in air and water.
  • An Agilent 8890 GC with a flame ionization detector and a 5973 MS detector and a dean switch for multiple columns.
  • A Perkin Elmer Clarus GC with two flame ionization detectors and a dean switch for multiple columns.
  • An Entech evacuated canister sampling system. This includes 96 silonite-coated 6 L stainless steel canisters, an automated can cleaner, a diluter/calibration preparation module, and a 7200 preconcentrator with a 16-can autosampler. The 7200 connects to Agilent GC/MS.
  • A Dionex ICS-3000 ion chromatograph (IC)
  • A 900 degree muffle furnace, as well as lower temperature ovens
  • Several Tekran 2537X and B elemental mercury analyzers
  • Custom instrumentation for measurement of atmospheric mercury, including a cryogenic preconcentrator upstream of a GC/MS, two dual-channel elemental and oxidized mercury analyzers, and several custom-built calibrators for elemental mercury and oxidized mercury compounds

Field Sites

We operate air quality monitoring sites around the region. Most of our sites are designed to monitor the meteorology and chemistry of wintertime inversions and winter ozone, so they often only operate during winter. The following is an overview of measurements we collect at these sites.

Horsepool

Our Horsepool site (40.143, -109.469) has operated since 2011 in an area of intensive oil and gas development in the Uinta Basin. This is our flagship site, and we have hosted many collaborative research efforts at the site with NOAA, BYU, University of Utah, and others. Our permanent instrumentation at the site measures:

  • NOx  and NOy with an Thermo 42i analyzer with a UV NO2 converter from Air Quality Design
  • Ozone with an Ecotech 9810
  • Carbon monoxide with an Ecotech 9830
  • PM2.5 with a Met One BAM 1020
  • Methane and total non-methane hydrocarbons with a Chromatotec ChromaTHC with methane option
  • Speciated C2-C12 hydrocarbons and C1-C3 alcohols via a custom-built canister sampling system
  • Speciated carbonyls with a custom-built DNPH cartridge sampling system
  • Net solar radiation with a Hukseflux NR01
  • Incoming and outgoing UV A and B radiation with a Kipp and Zonen UV A/B
  • Snow depth with a custom-built accoustic sensor
  • Basic meteorology

Roosevelt

We operate the Roosevelt site (40.294, -110.009) in a collaboration with the Utah Division of Air Quality, which maintains a regulatory monitoring station at the same location. The following are measured at the site:

  • NOx and NOy with a Teledyne-API N500 (USU)
  • Ozone (UDAQ)
  • PM2.5 (UDAQ)
  • Methane and total non-methane hydrocarbons with a Thermo 55i (USU)
  • Speciated C2-C12 hydrocarbons and C1-C3 alcohols via a custom-built canister sampling system
  • Speciated carbonyls with a custom-built DNPH cartridge sampling system
  • Net solar radiation with a Kipp and Zonen CNR4 (USU)
  • Snow depth with an accoustic sensor (USU)
  • Basic meteorology (USU and UDAQ)

Castle Peak

We established the Castle Peak site (40.051, -110.019) to monitor air quality in a part of the Basin that is dominated by crude oil development. At the site we measure:

  • NOx with a Teledyne-API N500
  • Ozone with a Teledyne-API T400
  • Speciated C2-C12 hydrocarbons and C1-C3 alcohols via a custom-built canister sampling system
  • Speciated carbonyls with a custom-built DNPH cartridge sampling system
  • Basic meteorology

Other Sites

We also operate sites that measure ozone (with portable 2B monitors) and basic meteorology on solar-powered tripods. The number and location of these sites has changed from year to year. currently we operate one of these sites at Seven Sisters (39.983, -109.344).

Mobile Emissions Measurement Laboratory

We use a mobile emissions measurement laboratory to characterize emissions of methane, carbon dioxide, non-methane hydrocarbons, alcohols, and carbonyls from various sources. The trailer is currently configured to (1) measure soil or water fluxes with up to six flux chambers at a time and (2) measure emission rates from various components of oil and gas equipment with a high-flow sampler, or (3) measure emission rates from engine exhaust stacks. The trailer includes these major features:

  • An LGR ultraportable greenhouse gas analyzer to measure concentrations of methane, carbon dioxide, and water vapor
  • A custom high flow measurement system that handles emission rates of up to 2000 L/min (methane) and as low as a few mL/min. This system uses a Fox FT3 thermal mass flow meter to measures air flow and is intrinsically safe and fully grounded. It is currently configured to analyze for carbon dioxide, methane, and a suite of hydrocarbons, alcohols, and carbonyls.
  • A canister sampling system to collect whole air samplers to analyze for non-methane hydrocarbons and alcohols
  • A DNPH cartridge sampling system to capture samples of carbonyls
  • A dynamic dilution calibration system to deliver precise, customizable concentrations of gases of interest in real time
  • A meteorological tower that is attached to the trailer and sets up in seconds
  • A dynamic flux chamber system modeled after the EPA emission isolation flux chamber.  The system can be configured to switch among up to six flux chambers and has been used for background soil emissions, subsurface leaks from well pads, and emissions from produced water and other water surfaces.  The chamber system detects emissions of methane, carbon dioxide, and a suite of 70 non-methane organic compounds, and it can be configured for additional compounds as needed.
  • A direct emissions sampling system that has been used for sampling emissions from engines and other sources with an exhaust pipe or stack.  The system includes an Ecom J2KN Pro emissions analyzer with a pitot tube for flow rate and sensors for O2, NO, NO2, CO, and CO2.  This is used alongside the trailers additional sampling capability to determine emissions of methane and a suite of 70 non-methane organic compounds.

Unmanned Aerial Systems

In cooperation with the USU Eastern Drone Program, we maintain several unmanned aerial systems.  These include the following:
  • A DJI Matrice 210 that can be confirgured to measure meteorological parameters, ozone, or other components of the atmosphere
  • An eBee X fixed-wing unmanned aerial system with AgEagle Duet M high-resolution RGB and multispectral camera with an automatic radiometric calibration system
  • A custom hexacopter unmanned aerial system with a Sensit methane analyzer and a Sparv ultrasonic anemometer for detection and quantification of methane emission

Soil, Water and Ecological Capabilities

  • A YSI EX01 water quality multiprobe to measure pH, turbidity, DO, conductivity, and temperature

Miscellaneous

We also utilize the following instrumentation in our research:

  • Two BGI PQ200 PM2.5 filter samplers
  • A Met One BAM 1020 PM10 sampler
  • Ten 2B ozone monitors and seven solar systems to perform high density ozone measurement campaigns
  • Two 2.5 m diameter balloons with electric winches, thousands of feet of line, Smart Tether meteorological instrumentation, and reduced-weight 2B ozone analyzers to characterize meteorology and ozone vertically
  • URG 900 Series Ambient Ion Monitor
  • Aeris Mira real-time ambient formaldehyde monitor
  • LGR FGGA methane, CO2, and water vapor analyzer.  Capable of 10 Hz measurements for eddy flux.