Introducing the ’miniRECgap’ package with GUI-supported R-scripts for simple gap-filling of Eddy Covariance CO2 flux data

The Eddy covariance (EC) is a well-known technique used (among others) to investigate the ecosystem exchange of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) between the biosphere and the atmosphere (Burba et al., 2007), often required in studies on soil-plant-atmosphere interactions and GHG emissions/removals from different soil systems. The long data records from EC measurements often experience data gaps due to various reasons (BaldocchiI, 2003) resulting in  many gap-filling methods being developed over the past decades. This study is introducing the new ’miniRECgap’ (Premrov, 2024) computational tool, which is using so-called ‘classic’, traditional robust and validated modelling approaches for gap-filling the missing EC CO₂ flux measurements,  based on the application of environmental temperature and light response functions (Lloyd and Taylor, 1994; Rabinowitch, 1951) in combination with empirical/semi-empirical parameter-optimisation. ‘miniRECgap’ is a very small R package that operates in a user-friendly way via GUI (Graphical User Interface) supported scripts. It is purposely designed to be simple, operating in only 5 steps. The application of ‘miniRECgap’ will be demonstrated using EC CO₂ flux data from an Irish peatland site Clara Bog. Due to its simplicity, it is thought that the new tool may be beneficial for new R users and that it may allow for easier and less time-consuming testing of the potential suitability of ‘classic’ empirical/semi-empirical gap-filling on different datasets.

 

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for funding the CO2PEAT project (2022-CE-1100) under the EPA Research Programme 2021-2030.

 

References

BaldocchiI, D.D. (2003) Assessing the eddy covariance technique for evaluating carbon dioxide exchange rates of ecosystems: past, present and future.  9, 479-492.

Burba, G., Anderson, D., Amen, J., (2007) Eddy Covariance Method: Overview of General Guidelines and Conventional Workflow, AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, pp. B33D-1575.

Lloyd, J., Taylor, J.A. (1994) On the temperature dependence of soil respiration. Functional Ecology 8, 315-323.

Premrov, A., (2024) miniRECgap. R package  with GUI suported scripts for gap-filling the of Eddy Covariance CO2 flux data.  Copyright: Trinity College Dublin. URL:  'miniRECgap package will be uploaded on GitHub in near future'.

Rabinowitch, E.I. (1951) Photosynthesis and Related Processes. Interscience Publishers.