Automated flux chamber for investigating gas flux at water-air interfaces

Abstract

Aquatic ecosystems are major sources of greenhouse gases (GHG). Representative measurements of GHG fluxes from aquatic ecosystems to the atmosphere are vital for quantitative understanding of relationships between biogeochemistry and climate. Fluxes occur at high temporal variability at diel or longer scales, which are not captured by traditional short-term deployments (often in the order of 30 min) of floating flux chambers. High temporal frequency measurements are necessary but also extremely labor intensive if manual flux chamber based methods are used. Therefore, we designed an inexpensive and easily mobile automated flux chamber (AFC) for extended deployments. The AFC was designed to measure in situ accumulation of gas in the chamber and also to collect gas samples in an array of sample bottles for subsequent analysis in the laboratory, providing two independent ways of CH 4 concentration measurements. We here present the AFC design and function together with data from initial laboratory tests and from a field deployment. © 2012 American Chemical Society.