For a better understanding of the role of the terrestrial biosphere in
the global cycle of greenhouse gases (GHGs), CGER has carried out aircraft
observations over Siberia since 1992 in cooperation with Russian research
institutions.
In the early stage of monitoring (1992 to 1994), observations focused on
the horizontal distribution of GHGs over all of Siberia. Since 1993, the
vertical distributions of GHGs have been measured by collecting air samples
over three fixed sites in Siberia (Fig. 1 and Table 1).

Figure 1. Sampling sites and photographs of aircraft
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Since July 1993, air sampling has been carried out once per month using
chartered AN-24 aircraft at eight different altitudes between 0.5 and 7
km over the wetland near Surgut, West Siberia. The air is taken through
the drain pipe in the cockpit and pressurized by a diaphragm pump up to
about 0.2 MPa into Pyrex glass flasks each of 0.5 liter inner volume. The
stop cocks of the glass flasks and the diaphragm pump are operated manually.
Air sampling over the forest area near Novosibirsk, West Siberia, has been conducted once per month since July 1997 using the AN-30 research aircraft operated by the Institute of Atmospheric Optics. Sampling procedures are almost the same as those conducted over Surgut.
Over the forest area near Yakutsk, East Siberia, air sampling has been done automatically at eight different altitudes between 0.5 and 5 km using AN-24 passenger aircraft since October 1996. The air is taken from the inlet tube installed at the bottom of the aircraft and pressurized by a diaphragm pump up to about 0.2 MPa into 0.75 liter glass flasks with pneumatic valves at both ends. The pneumatic valves are operated by a small board computer at the assigned altitudes detected by a pressure sensor. All these procedures are conducted during the ascent of the aircraft.
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