Evaluation of a lower-powered analyzer and sampling system for eddy-covariance measurements of nitrous oxide fluxes

Brown, Shannon E.; Sargent, Steve; Wagner-Riddle, Claudia

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1583-2018

Articles | Volume 11, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1583-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1583-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 11, issue 3

Research article

|

22 Mar 2018

Research article |

| 22 Mar 2018

Evaluation of a lower-powered analyzer and sampling system for eddy-covariance measurements of nitrous oxide fluxes

Shannon E. Brown, Steve Sargent, and Claudia Wagner-Riddle

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Final revised paper (published on 22 Mar 2018)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 04 Aug 2017)
Supplement to the preprint

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'Greenhouse gas flux', Anonymous Referee #1, 21 Aug 2017
- AC1: 'Response to Reviewer 1 Comments', Shannon E Brown, 02 Dec 2017
RC2: 'review 2', Mingxi Yang, 10 Oct 2017
- AC2: 'Response to Reviewer 2 Comments', Shannon E Brown, 02 Dec 2017

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

AR by Shannon E Brown on behalf of the Authors (22 Dec 2017) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (26 Jan 2018) by Christian Brümmer

Dear Shannon Brown,

Thank you for revising your manuscript entitled 'EVALUATION OF A LOWER-POWERED ANALYZER AND SAMPLING SYSTEM FOR EDDY-COVARIANCE MEASUREMENTS OF NITROUS OXIDE FLUXES' and for thoroughly taking the reviewers' comments into account.

Having a system for N2O field scale flux measurements with better frequency response than previous systems and at the same time lower sample pump power consumption is a step forward with regard to remote agricultural areas where high-quality power supply is not always available. The technical characterization of the system is rigorous and well done. Including the suggestions of Referee #2 regarding spectral losses and flux detection limit has further improved the paper.

The study is a valuable contribution to the eddy flux community and can be published subject to only a few minor additions:

- On page 18, lines 20-24 and in Fig.8 it should again be indicated that no gap filling was used. Otherwise these total emission numbers do not make sense and may mislead the reader when trying to compare these figures with other studies.

- Accurate quantification of N losses from fertilized agricultural land is crucial when trying to optimize fertilizer type, amount, application technique, and yield while at the same time keeping N emissions on a low level. I'm missing a rough estimation of the ratio of N emitted to N added (i.e. emission factor) in order to further assess the field applicability of the system. Is information about amount of fertilizer added (N content) available? For this purpose, a simple gap filling routine should be performed (something like mean diurnal variation). Do the results make sense and are they comparable to other studies (maybe even to chamber measurements at the same site)? If available, these information should be added on page 15, lines 10-25.

- Section 3.4 should be 3.3.

Thank you for submitting your work to AMT.

Best regards,
Christian Brümmer

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AR by Shannon E Brown on behalf of the Authors (05 Feb 2018) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (11 Feb 2018) by Christian Brümmer

Post-review adjustments

AA: Author's adjustment | EA: Editor approval

AA by Shannon E Brown on behalf of the Authors (12 Mar 2018) Author's adjustment Manuscript

EA: Adjustments approved (18 Mar 2018) by Christian Brümmer

Short summary

Results are presented from a long-term field trial of a new eddy-covariance system optimized to measure N₂O fluxes using less power than existing N₂O EC systems (250 W vs 500–1000 W) while maintaining frequency response. The system operated outdoors continuously for 1.5 years and required minimal maintenance. Frequency response was determined in situ and showed the improvement in response time as compared to an older N₂O EC system. This EC system showed promise for deployment in remote areas.