Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Soil, Water & Air Resources Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #321468
Title: Comparing CO2 flux data from eddy covariance methods with bowen ratio energy balance methods from contrasting soil management

Author
item O'DELL, DEB - University Of Tennessee
item EASH, NEAL - University Of Tennessee
item SULLIVAN, CASY - University Of Tennessee
item LOGAN, JOANNE - University Of Tennessee
item HICKS, BRUCE - Metcorps
item Sauer, Thomas - Tom
item LAMBERT, DAYTON - University Of Tennessee
item THIERFELDER, CHRISTIAN - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/18/2015
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Measuring CO2 fluxes from contrasting soil management practices is important for understanding the role of agriculture in source-sink relationship with CO2 flux. There are several micrometeorological methods for measuring CO2 emissions, however all are expensive and thus do not easily lend themselves to spatial replication and frequentist statistical models. This study was conducted to validate CO2 flux over four contrasting agricultural management treatments on a classified as a Chromic Luvisol (as a Typic Rhodustalf (in Soil Taxonomy) using the Bowen ratio energy balance (BREB) and eddy covariance (EC) systems. Meteorological data and CO2 flux were measured with BREB instruments over four plots with three plots of corn (Zea mays L.) and a fourth tilled and fallow plot before and during the growing season in Harare, Zimbabwe. Contrasting tillage and irrigation treatments were applied to the three corn plots. The four BREB instruments were placed near the center of each plot and a separate EC instrument was centrally located between the four plots. Flux of CO2 was collected every 5 minutes for all five instruments. The EC data downwind of a particular BREB instrument was compared with the BREB data. Initial data analysis indicates that CO2 flux from the EC instrument is positively correlated with the CO2 flux from upwind BREB instruments.