As manager of the INSTAAR Stable Isotope Lab, I oversee measurements and analyses that examine biogeochemical processes that control environmental change on human timescales. We develop new and automated techniques for measuring stable isotopes in the environment. Our contributions are most significant in the area of trace gas measurements for the NOAA Carbon Cycle Group that is part of the Global Monitoring Division, NOAA Environmental Research Lab, Boulder. We also provide extremely high resolution stable isotope records from ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica. We are currently exploring the interface between the atmosphere and the Greenland Ice Sheet, utilizing Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAV's) to learn more about water vapor isotopes and how they interact with the snow surface. This has broad implications for interpreting the paleoclimate record in isotopes of deep ice cores, along with a better understanding of water vapor flux into and out of the ice sheet.
keywords
stable isotopes in the environment, instrumentation, methods development, polar ice cores, atmospheric trace gas measurement
