Possible errors in flux measurements due to limited digitalization

Abstract

Recently reported trends of carbon dioxide uptake pose the question of whether trends may be the result of the limited digitalization of gas analysers and sonic anemometers used in the 1990s. Modifying a 12 bit digitalization and the instrument error reported for the Gill R2 and R3 sonic anemometers found elsewhere, the influence of these deficits in comparison to the now commonly used 16 bit digitalization were quantified. Both issues have an effect only on trace gas fluxes of small magnitude, mainly for the carbon dioxide rather than for the water vapour fluxes. The influence on the annual net ecosystem exchange is negligible, because other errors resulting from gap filling routines, for example, are much larger.