Measuring greenhouse gases

Fast developments in measurement equipment allow measurements of gases in ambient air at low concentrations and high measurement frequencies. CO₂ (carbon dioxide), CH₄ (methane) and N₂0 (nitrous oxide) are detectable on a routine basis. It is even possible to discriminate between sources of gases by chemical and stable isotope analysis.

Carbon dioxide originates from combustion of fossil fuels, but also from decomposition of organic matter in soils. Methane has a a 28-34 times stronger effect on climate as carbon dioxide, it originates from fresh water lakes and wetlands, gas leakage, land fills and agriculture. Nitrous oxide is 265 - 298 times stronger as carbon dioxide, and may originate from fertilized organic soils.

Measurement of greenhouse gases can be done in various ways, depending on the kind of source (point sources or diffuse sources) and what we want to know: do we want to locate the sources sources only, or do we also want to know huw much?

To measure various source we use state of the art equipment:

Point measurements of CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes from soil and water using automated flux chambers

Detection of CO₂ and CH₄ sources on a landscape scale

For measurements of greenhouse gas exchange of soils and ecosystems we have developed an automatic chamber system . For quick scanning for source locations we use our methane scanner