Operation, maintenance, and calibration of gas analysers

About the event

We are organising a five-day training workshop to enhance the capacity of our country partners – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Pakistan – to operate, maintain, troubleshoot, and calibrate the gas analysers used to monitor ambient air pollutants.  The participants will undergo hands-on training, guided by Thermo Scientific experts, to enhance their existing skills and ensure the smooth operation of air quality monitoring stations.

This event is partially supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)-funded Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP) under the Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) programme.

Objectives

• Build the capacity of country partners and nominated participants in operating, maintaining, troubleshooting, and calibrating gas analysers, including understanding the instruments’ working principles
• Start the dialogue on harmonisation related to data measurements, calibration, reliability, and standardised reporting formats with the participants

Background

Over recent decades, the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region has been affected by rising emissions of air pollutants from urban, industrial, and rural sources. This has raised concerns on deteriorating air quality, impacts on health and visibility, changes in atmospheric heating and cooling, and changes in cloud microphysics. Studies have also shown that increasing air pollution is affecting the strength and timing of the monsoon, increasing stratospheric pollution above the Tibetan Plateau, depositing light-absorbing substances onto snow and ice surfaces, and accelerating the melting of the Himalayan cryosphere.

Stimulating Action for Clean Air (Action Area B) under the Strategic Group 1: Reducing Climate and Environmental Risk, aims to bring about effective measures and policies for reducing air pollution and its impacts within the HKH region by improving knowledge and enhancing the capacity of partners in ICIMOD’s eight regional member countries. In collaboration with our government partners, we have established state-of-the-art air quality stations with aerosol and trace gas measurement instruments. Trace gas measurement instruments are used in these stations as the primary instrument for the measurement of concentration of O₃, SO₂, CO, NO, NO₂, and NO_x. These instruments require regular servicing and calibration to ensure the highest quality of data generation.