Simultaneous flux monitoring of 10 trace and greenhouse gases with a single instrument ideal for complex agricultural ecosystems

Monitoring as many trace and greenhouse gas fluxes as possible is essential for understanding the interactions between the atmosphere, vegetation, and soil, the key components of agricultural ecosystems. In these complex environments, capturing a complete flux budget requires the simultaneous measurement of a wide range of inert and reactive trace gases, as well as greenhouse gases.

Until recently, gas flux monitoring was typically limited to just a few gases per instrument, making the process both complex and costly while offering only a partial view of emitted gas composition. MIRO Analytical has addressed this limitation by developing a novel multi-compound gas analyzer capable of simultaneously measuring up to 10 air pollutants (CO, NO, NO₂, O₃, SO₂ and NH₃), greenhouse gases (CO₂, N₂O, H₂O, CH₄ and C₂H₆) and other atmospheric trace gases such as OCS, HONO and CH₂O at ppb or even ppt levels.

One single analyzer can be used to conduct eddy covariance (EC) measurements, which require a high temporal resolution. With a cell turnover time below 0.1 seconds, our compact instrument combining multiple mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers delivers true 10 Hz sampling with exceptional precision. The very same analyzer can also be used to measure fluxes captured by (soil-)incubation chambers. It can be installed on mobile platforms and is field deployable.

In this contribution, we showcase the capabilities of our all-in-one flux monitor through application examples that demonstrate unique combinations of up to 10 trace and greenhouse gases measured with the EC or flux gradient technique, as well as on-field and lab chamber measurements.