Eddy Covariance Flux Measurements: A Brief Practical Guide To
Eddy Covariance Flux Measurements: A Brief Practical Guide To
CH4 CO2 H2O Heat Wind Biology Ecology Hydrology Agronomy Horticulture Entomology Global Carbon Climate Change Landfill Emissions Fugitive Emissions Greenhouse Gases Oil and Gas Industry Carbon Sequestration Environmental Monitoring
This version 1.0.1 is a first partial revision of the original 2005-07 field manual entitled Introduction to the Eddy Covariance Method: General Guidelines and Conventional Workflow. Several new sub-sections have been added to the Instrumentation Section, and the detailed Section on Open-Path Instrument Surface Heating was also added. Other text went through editorial revisions and updates in a number of places. Please continue to send us your suggestions. We intend to keep the content of this work dynamic and current, and we will be happy to incorporate any additional information and literature references. Please address correspondence to [email protected] with the subject EC Guide. This introduction has been created to familiarize a beginner with general theoretical principles, requirements, applications, and processing steps of the Eddy Covariance method. It is intended to assist readers to further their understanding of the method, and provide references such as textbooks, network guidelines and journal papers. It is also intended to help students and researchers in the field deployment of the Eddy Covariance method, and to promote its use beyond micrometeorology. Each page is divided into the top portion, with key points and summaries, and the bottom portion, with explanations, details, and recommended readings.
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A Brief Practical Guide to Eddy Covariance Flux Measurements: Principles and Workflow Examples for Scientific and Industrial Applications by G. Burba and D. Anderson of LI-COR Biosciences Version 1.0.1 Copyright 2005-2010 LI-COR, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact LI-COR for permission to redistribute.
LI-COR Biosciences 4647 Superior Street P.O. Box 4425 Lincoln, Nebraska 68504 USA www.licor.com Email: [email protected] Phone: 402.467.3576 Toll Free (USA): 800.447.3576
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION
Purpose Acknowledgements Main parts
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Positioning within ecosystem Maintenance plan Carbon footprint considerations Summary of experimental design II.2 Experimental implementation Tower placement Sensor height and sampling frequency Footprint
- visualizing the concept - models - effect of measurement height - height: near the station - measurement height summary - effect of canopy roughness - roughness: near the station - roughness summary - height at differernt roughnesses - roughness at different heights - height and roughness summary - effect of stability - stability summary - summary of footprint 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97
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Testing data collection Testing data retrieval Keeping up maintenance Experiment implementation summary II. 3 Data processing and analysis Unit conversion De-spiking Calibration coefficients Coordinate rotation Time delay De-trending Applying corrections
- frequency response corrections - co-spectra - transfer functions - applying frequency response corrections - time response - sensor separation - tube attenuation - digital sampling 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120
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- path and volume averaging - high-pass filtering - low-pass filtering - sensor response mismatch - total transfer function - frequency response summary
Choosing time average Webb-Pearman-Leuning correction Instrument surface heating correction Sonic correction Examples of other corrections Summary of corrections
II.4 Surface Heat Exchange and Open-Path Gas Fluxes from Older Analyzers 137 Instrument surface heating A brief history at LI-COR Review of heating concept Visualization of surface heating Is sensor surface really warmer? How strong is the heating? Propagation of heating into WPL terms Methods from GCB, 2008 Sensor orientation Impact of heating two days in ryegrass Impact of heating four days in maize and soybean Impact of heating years in maize and soybean How strong is overall heating impact on hourly CO2 flux? Impact of heating on long-term budget Impact of heating on H2O and other fluxes Dealing with past CO2 data Dealing with future CO2 data : old LI-7500 New open-path instruments Open path instrument with reduced power dissipation Open path instrument with no observed heating effect Enclosed short-tube low-power solution Summary II.5 Quality control of Eddy Covariance flux data Quality control Quality control during nighttime Validation:energy budget Validation:full EB closure
4 Brief Guide To Eddy Covariance Measurements |Burba & Anderson
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Validation:other methods Filling in missing data Storage Integration II.6 Eddy covariance workflow summary
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INTRODUCTION
The Eddy Covariance method is one of the most accurate, direct and defensible approaches available to date for measurements of gas fluxes and monitoring of gas emissions from areas with sizes ranging from a few hundred to millions of square meters The method relies on direct and very fast measurements of actual gas transport by a 3-D wind speed in real time in situ, resulting in calculations of turbulent fluxes within the atmospheric boundary layer Modern instruments and software make this method easily available and potentially widely-used in studies beyond micrometeorology, such as in ecology, hydrology, environmental and industrial monitoring, etc. Main challenge of the method for a non-expert is the shear complexity of system design, implementation and processing the large volume of data
The Eddy Covariance method provides measurements of gas emission and consumption, and also allows measurements of fluxes of sensible heat, latent heat and momentum, integrated over an area. This method was widely used in micrometeorology for over 30 years, but now, with firmer methodology and more advanced instrumentation, it can be available to any discipline, including science, industry, environmental monitoring and inventory. Below are a few examples of the sources of information on the various methods of flux measurements, and specifically on the Eddy Covariance method: Micrometeorology, 2009. By T. Foken. SpringerVerlag. Handbook of Micrometeorology: A Guide for Surface Flux Measurement and Analysis, 2008. By X. Lee; W. Massman; B. Law (Eds.). Springer-Verlag.
Principles of Environmental Physics, 2007. By J. Monteith and M. Unsworth. Academic Press. Microclimate: The Biological Environment. 1983. By N. Rosenberg, B. Blad, S. Verma. Wiley Publishers. Baldocchi, D.D., B.B. Hicks and T.P. Meyers. 1988. 'Measuring biosphere-atmosphere exchanges of biologically related gases with micrometeorological methods', Ecology, 69, 1331-1340 Verma, S.B., 1990. Micrometeorological methods for measuring surface fluxes of mass and energy. Remote Sensing Reviews, 5: 99-115. Wesely, M.L., D.H. Lenschow and O.T. 1989. Flux measurement techniques. In: Global Tropospheric Chemistry, Chemical Fluxes in the Global Atmosphere. NCAR Report. Eds. DH Lenschow and BB Hicks. pp 31-46
PURPOSE
To help a non-expert gain a basic understanding of the Eddy Covariance method and to point out valuable references
To provide explanations in a simplified manner first, and then elaborate with specific details
To promote a further understanding of the method via more advanced sources (textbooks, papers)
To help design experiments for the specific needs of a new Eddy Covariance user for scientific, environmental and industrial applications
Here we try to help a non-expert to understand the general principles, requirements, applications, and processing steps of the Eddy Covariance method. Explanations are given in a simplified manner first, and then elaborated with some specific examples. Alternatives to the traditionally used approaches are also mentioned. The basic information presented here is intended to provide a foundational understanding of the Eddy Covariance method, and to help new Eddy Covariance users design experiments for their specific needs. A deeper understanding of the method can be obtained via more advanced sources, such as textbooks, network guidelines, and journal papers. The specific applications of the Eddy Covariance method are numerous, and may require specific
mathematical approaches and processing workflows. This is why there is no one single recipe and it is important to further study all aspects of the method in relation to a specific measurement site and a specific scientific purpose.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to acknowledge a number of scientists who have contributed to this review directly via valuable advice and indirectly via scientific papers, textbooks, data sets, and personal communications.
Particularly we thank Drs. Dennis Baldocchi, Dave Billesbach, Robert Clement, Tanvir Demetriades-Shah, Thomas Foken, Beverly Law, Hank Loescher, William Massman, Dayle McDermitt, William Munger, Andrew Suyker, Shashi Verma, Jon Welles and many others for their expertise in this area of flux studies
We thank Fluxnet, Fluxnet-Canada, AsiaFlux, CarboEurope and AmeriFlux networks for providing access to the field data, to setup, collection and processing instructions and formats for their Eddy Covariance stations
We also thank a large number of people who provided valuable feedback, suggestions and additions to the first 2007 edition of the guide. And we also would like to thank numerous other researchers, technicians and students who, through years of use in the field, have developed the Eddy Covariance method to its present level and have proven its effectiveness with studies and scientific publications.
MAIN PARTS
PART I. PART II. PART III. PART IV. PART V. PART VI. PART VII. Overview of Eddy Covariance Principles Typical Eddy Covariance Workflow Alternative Flux Methods Future Developments Eddy Covariance Review Summary Useful Resources References
There are seven main parts to this guide: explanations of the basics of Eddy Covariance Theory; examples of Eddy Covariance Workflow; description of Alternative Flux Methods; discussion of Future Developments; Summary; list of Useful Resources; and References
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