Low cost and state of the art methods to measure nitrous oxide emissions

This letter provides an overview of the available measurement techniques for nitrous oxide (N2O) flux measurement. It is presented to aid the choice of the most appropriate methods for different situations. Nitrous oxide is a very potent greenhouse gas; the effect of 1 kg of N2O is estimated to be e...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hensen A, Skiba U, Famulari D
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: IOP Publishing 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/52090
_version_ 1855514490223722496
author Hensen A
Skiba U
Famulari D
author_browse Famulari D
Hensen A
Skiba U
author_facet Hensen A
Skiba U
Famulari D
author_sort Hensen A
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This letter provides an overview of the available measurement techniques for nitrous oxide (N2O) flux measurement. It is presented to aid the choice of the most appropriate methods for different situations. Nitrous oxide is a very potent greenhouse gas; the effect of 1 kg of N2O is estimated to be equivalent to 300 kg of CO2. Emissions of N2O from the soil have a larger uncertainty compared to other greenhouse gases. Important reasons for this are low atmospheric concentration levels and enormous spatial and temporal variability. Traditionally such small increases are measured by chambers and analyzed by gas chromatography. Spatial and temporal resolution is poor, but costs are low. To detect emissions at the field scale and high temporal resolution, differences at tens of ppt levels need to be resolved. Reliable instruments are now available to measure N2O by a range of micrometeorological methods, but at high financial cost. Although chambers are effective in identifying processes and treatment effects and mitigation, the future lies with the more versatile high frequency and high sensitivity sensors.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace52090
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher IOP Publishing
publisherStr IOP Publishing
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace520902023-03-17T16:11:22Z Low cost and state of the art methods to measure nitrous oxide emissions Hensen A Skiba U Famulari D climate agriculture measurement nitrous oxide greenhouse gases This letter provides an overview of the available measurement techniques for nitrous oxide (N2O) flux measurement. It is presented to aid the choice of the most appropriate methods for different situations. Nitrous oxide is a very potent greenhouse gas; the effect of 1 kg of N2O is estimated to be equivalent to 300 kg of CO2. Emissions of N2O from the soil have a larger uncertainty compared to other greenhouse gases. Important reasons for this are low atmospheric concentration levels and enormous spatial and temporal variability. Traditionally such small increases are measured by chambers and analyzed by gas chromatography. Spatial and temporal resolution is poor, but costs are low. To detect emissions at the field scale and high temporal resolution, differences at tens of ppt levels need to be resolved. Reliable instruments are now available to measure N2O by a range of micrometeorological methods, but at high financial cost. Although chambers are effective in identifying processes and treatment effects and mitigation, the future lies with the more versatile high frequency and high sensitivity sensors. 2013-06-01 2014-12-16T06:37:31Z 2014-12-16T06:37:31Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/52090 en Open Access IOP Publishing Hensen A, Skiba U, Famulari D. 2013. Low cost and state of the art methods to measure nitrous oxide emissions. Environmental Research Letters 8: 025022.
spellingShingle climate
agriculture
measurement
nitrous oxide
greenhouse gases
Hensen A
Skiba U
Famulari D
Low cost and state of the art methods to measure nitrous oxide emissions
title Low cost and state of the art methods to measure nitrous oxide emissions
title_full Low cost and state of the art methods to measure nitrous oxide emissions
title_fullStr Low cost and state of the art methods to measure nitrous oxide emissions
title_full_unstemmed Low cost and state of the art methods to measure nitrous oxide emissions
title_short Low cost and state of the art methods to measure nitrous oxide emissions
title_sort low cost and state of the art methods to measure nitrous oxide emissions
topic climate
agriculture
measurement
nitrous oxide
greenhouse gases
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/52090
work_keys_str_mv AT hensena lowcostandstateoftheartmethodstomeasurenitrousoxideemissions
AT skibau lowcostandstateoftheartmethodstomeasurenitrousoxideemissions
AT famularid lowcostandstateoftheartmethodstomeasurenitrousoxideemissions