| IMPROVED EDDY FLUX MEASUREMENTS BY OPEN-PATH GAS ANALYZER AND SONIC ANEMOMETER CO-LOCATION
A novel instrument design combines the sensing paths of an open-path gas analyzer and a 3-D sonic anemometer and integrates the sensors in a single aerodynamic body. Common electronics provide fast-response, synchronized measurements of wind vector, sonic temperature, CO2 and H2O densities, and atmospheric pressure. An instantaneous CO2 mixing ratio, relative to dry air, is computed in real time. The synergy of combined sensors offers an alternative to the traditional density-based flux calculation method historically used for standalone open-path analyzers.
A simple method is described for a direct, in-situ, mixing-ratio-based flux calculation. The method consists of: (i) correcting sonically derived air temperature for humidity effects using instantaneous water vapor density and atmospheric pressure measurements, (ii) computing water vapor pressure based on water-vapor density and humidity-corrected sonic temperature, (iii) computing fast-response CO2 mixing ratio based on CO2 density, sonic temperature, water vapor, and atmospheric pressures, and (iv) computing CO2 flux from the covariance of the vertical wind speed and the CO2 mixing ratio. Since CO2 mixing ratio is a conserved quantity, the proposed method simplifies the calculations and eliminates the need for corrections in post-processing by accounting for temperature, water-vapor, and pressure-fluctuation effects on the CO2 density.
A field experiment was conducted using the integrated sensor to verify performance of the mixing-ratio method and to quantify the differences with density-derived CO2 flux corrected for sensible and latent-heat fluxes. The pressure term of the density corrections was also included in the comparison.
Results suggest that the integrated sensor with co-located sonic and gas sensing paths and the mixing-ratio-based method minimize or eliminate the following uncertainties in the measured CO2 flux: (i) correcting for frequency-response losses due to spatial separation of measured quantities, (ii) correcting sonically-derived, sensible-heat flux for humidity, (iii) correcting latent-heat flux for sensible-heat flux and water-vapor self-dilution, (iv) correcting CO2 flux for sensible- and latent-heat fluxes, (v) correcting CO2 flux for pressure-induced density fluctuations. |