Students Conduct First SLIP Field Deployment
| Inaugural Student Led Independent Project (SLIP) gives students the opportunity to be PIs by David Miller, MIRTHE SLC Co-President and Phillip Braun, MIRTHE Special Projects Manager |
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| The first of two field deployments of the MIRTHE Student Led Independent Project (SLIP) took place from October 24-November 2, 2011 at a site near the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Technology Research Center (TRC) in Baltimore, Maryland. This first deployment featured three quantum cascade laser (QCL)-based trace gas sensors and a Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) sensor -- all developed by MIRTHE --which were used to perform measurements of greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O, CH4) and air quality relevant species (CO, NH3) alongside collocated meteorological and soil measurements. In addition to testing sensor |  Open-path QCL ammonia sensor (left) and open-path QCL nitrous oxide/carbon monoxide sensor (right) performing atmospheric measurements at the UMBC field site |
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| performance in the field, the measurements provided information about atmospheric carbon and nitrogen fluxes in the urban environment of Baltimore. Methods for comparing soil fluxes of CO2, N2O and CH4 using laser-based sensors with conventional flux chamber methods were also explored. A more extensive field campaign is planned for spring 2012. This ongoing interdisciplinary and cross-institutional project features five graduate students and four post-doctoral fellows from four different research groups at Princeton University and Johns Hopkins University. The field deployment was made possible by collaborations with the Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering Department at UMBC as well as the Baltimore Ecosystem Study. |
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 Graduate student (l-r) David Miller with post-doctoral researcher Dr. Lei Tao and fellow graduate student Kang Sun in front of the UMBC field site |
The project is sponsored by NSF MIRTHE-ERC through the 2011 SLIP Grant entitled "A Multi-Sensor Field Deployment for Assessing Anthropogenic Influences on Carbon, Nitrogen and Water Cycling." It was chosen among several other proposals submitted by peers and faculty members after several stages of review. The MIRTHE SLIP grant, a new initiative, was conceived by the MIRTHE Student Leadership Council to give students hands-on administrative experience to prepare them for management of research projects in their future careers. As co-PIs, the students have the opportunity to formulate proposals, manage funding, and provide project direction. One participant remarked, "The SLIP project is a really unique opportunity for us as students/post-docs to make big decisions about doing our research and manage a budget instead of our advisors." The grant also gives participants the opportunity to engage in cross-disciplinary research and focus on technology applications. "We would never have learned what we did in the field if we were just sitting in the lab all this | |
| time," remarked Dr. Lei Tao; David Miller noted, "It was really interesting to learn what other people in different research groups and other universities are doing. There was lots of time to learn from each other during this unique field study." |
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 UMBC field site measurement path of the nitrous oxide CLADS sensor and retro-reflector; this QCL-based sensor was housed inside the building shown at left. Photo courtesy of Michal Nikodem, Princeton University |
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