The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) said on Tuesday that a research team led by senior researcher Lee Sang-ill has successfully created a calibration gas for dimethyl sulfide (DMS), an aerosol material. (Image: KRISS)
DAEJEON, Jan. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean researchers have developed a dimethyl sulfide-based calibration gas, which is expected to be adopted by the World Meteorological Organization’s air monitoring network.
The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) said on Tuesday that a research team led by senior researcher Lee Sang-ill has successfully created a calibration gas for dimethyl sulfide (DMS), an aerosol material.
The new DMS calibration gas is set to raise the accuracy rate of calibration gas, delivering a victory to both the KRISS and the meteorology sector.
The findings saw the KRISS attract international recognition, with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) designating the institute as a Central Calibration Laboratory (CLL) for its global atmosphere monitoring programs.
DMS is a volatile organic compound which is produced from oceanic plankton, and produces sulfate aerosol in the air through chemical reactions in the atmosphere.
Aerosols are micro particles that float in the air, which can have a both direct and indirect impact on climate change such as global warming and cooling.
While monitoring through accurate standards is essential, volatile organic compounds are highly reactive and have in the past been monitored without a calibration gas, making it difficult for researchers to secure stability in their monitoring efforts.
However, things are expected to change soon, as researchers at the KRISS managed to develop a DMS calibration gas that is similar to the actual atmosphere.
The new DMS calibration gas boasts a measurement uncertainty of less than 3 percent, which is more accurate than the current calibration gas approved by the WMO with a measurement uncertainty of 5 percent.
The KRISS’s findings have made South Korea the third country in the world to make it to the Central Calibration Laboratories for atmospheric monitoring programs under the WMO, following the U.S. and the U.K.
At Central Calibration Laboratories, quality control work takes place on data collected by the WMO.
South Korean researchers have developed a dimethyl sulfide-based calibration gas, which is expected to be adopted by the World Meteorological Organization’s air monitoring network. (Image: KRISS)
The researchers say they will continue the success with plans to establish international DMS calibration gas standards by 2020.
The findings were published in the international academic journal Metrologia.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
