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USER MANUAL
| ICOS | INSTRUCTIONS | UM/ICOS-EN REV. B.2
108
Appendix G:
Isotope Definitions
The GLA431-MCIA1 measures the concentration of
12
CH
4
and
13
CH
4
. These concentrations are
used to calculate the total CH
4
and the isotope ratio that are reported on the display
screens. The data file output includes the concentrations as well. The terms and their
respective data file name are listed below:
CH
4
[CH4]__ppm
δ
13
C
d13C
[
12
C
1
H
4
]
[12CH4]__ppm
[
13
C
1
H
4
]
[13CH4]__ppm
The isotope ratios are reported in ‰ relative to Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite. The
standard listed below were taken from IAEA-TECDOC-825.
(R
13
) VPDB
0.0112372
Total CH
4
is defined as the sum of all the isotopes:
CH
4
=
[
12
C
1
H
4
] + [
13
C
1
H
4
]
The isotope ratio is defined according to:
𝛿
!"
!
=
𝑅
!"
!"#$
𝑅
!"
!"#$
−
1
×
1000
Where the measured ratio is calculated from the measured concentrations:
𝑅
!"
!"#$
=
𝐶
!"
𝐶
!"
=
𝐶
!"
𝐻
!
!
𝐶
!"
𝐻
!
!