Investigations of Atmospheric CO at the Jungfraujoch

Abstract

Analysis of high-resolution solar spectra taken at the Jungfraujoch in Switzerland indicates that the terrestrial atmospheric CO content may vary by a factor of five in extreme cases, and is, furthermore, subject to surprisingly large fluctuations within the period of one hour. These variations are apparently unrelated to the more readily available data on general meteorological conditions, but a mechanism is suggested wherein the fluctuations of the CO may depend on atmospheric irregularities of a more finely detailed nature than those which normally come into consideration in meteorological observations.