Automatic gas flux chambers tested at lake Erken

16 December 2020
At lake Erken, tests of new automatic gas flux chambers have started. The chambers, with sensors inside, can be used to automatically measure greenhouse gas (GHG) flux between water and air.
 
The test is carried out as a joint initiative between SITES AquaNet, SITES Water, AQUACOSM-plus and the research group of David Bastviken at Linköping University.

The first tests have already been completed. More specifically, tests were carried out to investigate the performance of the chambers in the SITES AquaNET mesososms. Right now CO2 and CH4 gas samples from manual measurements are being analysed at the Department of Earth Sciences at Gothenburg University and the results will be compared with the corresponding gas flux measurements derived from sensor measurements.
 
Further tests are planned to investigate how the automatic chambers respond under rough weather conditions. The plan is to expose the chambers to strong winds on lake Erken. The chambers will be under surveillance during the test, allowing for fast rescue or adaptations, if needed, so that the valuable equipment is not at risk during this initial stage of testing.

Watch a video of the automatic gas flux chambers below.