Tracadie Flux Solution Deployment
At this site we are measuring soil carbon dioxide emissions using new
solid state flux probes developed in our lab. The technology is designed to be simpler and tougher
than common automated chamber systems, allowing us to capture continuous (every 60s) emissions data in
challenging situations - even under snow. Examples of future applications include Northern monitoring networks,
and Carbon Capture and Storage. This particular site was chosen for its extensive soil frost and lack of snow (due to high sustained winds).
As of February 2008 we are also preparing for a second deployment at a high elevation site with significant snow load.
The following plot shows a short timeseries from one of six probes, in which we can see the biosphere "awakening" during periodic thaws that interrupt the freeze. This type of data has been difficult to gather with survey or automated chambers. The colored portions of the graphs show the periods where air temperature rises above zero. The increase in emissions is very closely coupled temporally with the initial thaw.
