Improvements in Micrometeorological Instrumentation – Integrated CO2/H2O Flux Measurement Systems

Eddy Covariance Technique

For many years scientists working in the field of micrometeorology have used the 'Eddy Covariance' technique to study the transfer of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHG) between plants, soils, bodies of water and the atmosphere at the boundary layer. This complex statistical technique uses high frequency measurements of the movement of air in three dimensions along with the analysis of an air sample taken from the same position at the same time to determine the net exchange, or flux, of carbon dioxide, water vapour and sensible heat. Monitoring stations are typically installed above a forest canopy, field of crop or grassland where some of the prerequisites of meaningful readings such as homogeneity of terrain can be attained. Increasingly scientists are also studying fluxes in urban environments and above water.