Quantifying Uncontrolled Landfill Gas Emissions from Two Florida ...

On the first day of the field campaign (February 19), the single beam ratio, saturation, random
baseline noise, stray light, and NEA tests were performed on the IMACC OP-FTIR. The results
of the tests indicated that the instrument was operating within the acceptable criteria range.
On each subsequent day of the field campaign, the single beam ratio test was performed on the
IMACC OP-FTIR during the morning before data were collected. The results of these tests
indicated that the instrument was operating within the acceptable criteria range.
In addition to the QC checks performed on the OP-FTIR, the quality of the instrument signal
(interferogram) was checked constantly during the field campaign. This was done by ensuring
that the intensity of the signal is at least 5 times the intensity of the stray light signal (the stray
light signal is collected as background data prior to actual data collection, and measures internal
stray light from the instrument itself). In addition to checking the strength of the signal, checks
were done constantly in the field to ensure that the data were being collected and stored to the
data collection computer. During the campaign, a member of the field team constantly monitored
the data collection computer to make sure these checks were completed.
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