KIOWA ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY
LABORATORY

Mountain Research Station & Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research

University of Colorado at Boulder

     Kiowa Laboratory is the environmental chemistry laboratory for the Niwot Ridge/Green Lakes Valley Long-Term Ecological Research Program.  The laboratory is located at INSTAAR, RL-1, room 101.   Snow, water and soil samples from alpine and subalpine ecosystems are analyzed for major solutes, nutrients and isotopes.

Personnel

Analytical Tests

A) Water Samples

    • Calcium (Ca2+), Magnesium (Mg2+), Sodium (Na+), Potassium (K+), Manganese (Mn), Ammonium (NH4+), Lithium (Li)
    • Chloride (Cl-), Nitrate (NO3-), Nitrite (NO2-), Sulfate (SO42-), ortho-Phosphate (PO43-), Bromide (Br-), Fluoride (F-)
    • Silica (Si)
    • pH, Conductivity, Acid Neutralization Capacity (ANC), Acidity
    • Total Nitrogen, Total Dissolved Nitrogen
    • Total Phosphorus, Total Dissolved Phosphorus
    • Non-Purgable Organic Carbon
    • delta 18O
    • delta Deuterium

B) Soil Samples

    • 2N KCl extractable Ammonium (NH4+) and Nitrate +Nitrite (NO3- + NO2-)
    • Microbial Biomass

C) Fluorescence Services

More information

 

Equipment

  • Metrohm 761 Compact Ion Chromatography
  • Lachat QuikChem 8500 Spectrophotometric Flow Injection Analyzer
  • OI Analytical Flow Solution IV Spectrophotometric Analyzer
  • Perkin Elmer AAnalyst 200 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer
  • Accumet AR10 pH Meter 
  • Mettler Toledo SevenEasy Conductivity Meter
  • Shimadzu TOC-V CSN Total Organic Carbon Analyzer
  • BioTek Synergy 2 Multi-Detection Microplate Reader
  • Picarro L1102-i Isotopic Liquid Water Analyzer

Test/Solute Detection Limits and Precision

Test/Solute

Equipment

Detection Limit

Within Run Precision

Calcium (Ca2+)

Perkin Elmer AAnalyst 200

0.41 uEQ/L

0.82 % RSD

Magnesium (Mg2+)

Perkin Elmer AAnalyst 200

0.13 uEQ/L

0.89 % RSD

Sodium (Na+)

Perkin Elmer AAnalyst 200

0.22 uEQ/L

0.99 % RSD

Potassium (K+)

Perkin Elmer AAnalyst 200

0.12 uEQ/L

0.87 % RSD

Manganese (Mn)

Perkin Elmer AAnalyst 200

0.15 uEQ/L

1.36 % RSD

Lithium (Li)

Perkin Elmer AAnalyst 200

1.56 uMOLES

1.06 % RSD

Ammonium (NH4+)

BioTek Synergy 2

0.47 uEQ/L

1.62 % RSD

Silica

OI Analytical FS-IV

0.12 uEQ/L

0.44 % RSD

Chloride (Cl-)

Metrohm 761 Compact IC

0.05 uEQ/L

0.50 % RSD

Nitrate (NO3-)

Metrohm 761 Compact IC

0.04 uEQ/L

0.56 % RSD

Sulfate (SO42-)

Metrohm 761 Compact IC

0.05 uEQ/L

0.49 % RSD

Bromide (Br-)

Metrohm 761 Compact IC

0.04 uEQ/L

0.24 % RSD

Fluoride (F-)

Metrohm 761 Compact IC

0.30 uEQ/L

1.05% RSD

Nitrite (NO2-)

Lachat QC 8500 FIA

0.06 uEQ/L

2.66 % RSD

Nitrate+Nitrite (NO3-+NO2-)

Lachat QC 8500 FIA

0.09 uEQ/L

0.87 % RSD

Non-Purgable Organic Carbon (NPOC)

Shimzadzu TOC-V CSN

0.06 mgC/L

1.54 % RSD

Total Dissolved Nitrogen

Shimzadzu TOC-V CSN

1.49 uEQ/L

3.14 % RSD

ortho-Phosphate (PO43-)

Lachat QC 8500 FIA

0.05 uEQ/L

2.33 % RSD

Total Dissolved Phosphorus

Lachat QC 8500 FIA

0.04 uEQ/L

1.80 % RSD

delta18O

Picarro L1102-i

 

0.020 1 sigma

delta Deuterium

Picarro L1102-i

 

0.158 1 sigma

Annual Statistics

Year

Number of Samples Submitted

Number of Tests Analyzed

2011

5,919

48,062

2010

9,587

42,536

2009

4,420

31,698

2008

5,693

25,054

2007

5,352

24,480

2006

4,106

26,696

2005

3,193

23,809

2004

5,687

25,153

2003

5,568

22,659

2002

4,890

17,906

2001

6,069

19,533

2000

4,409

19,008

1999

4,713

24,822

Test/Solute Detection Limits and Precision Table Revision: 21 February 2012 by Chris Seibold

Annual Statistics Table Revision: 22 February 2012 by Chris Seibold

Web Page Revision: 22 February 2012 by Chris Seibold

KIOWA ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY Procedure Manual