Measurements of Carbon Fluxes

More than ten years ago the Atmosphere/Biosphere Group was created at IBIMET-CNR pioneering scientific research in the carbon dioxide related topics. Since the beginning the activity was focused on the study of effects of increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 on natural ecosystems and agricultural crops. The group is now actively involved in biospheric flux monitoring studies and participates in the most important international flux networks and projects.
These studies allow an assessment of carbon sequestration by agricultural and natural ecosytems, in the framework of Art. 3.3. and 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol, which allows CO2 sequestration in the biosphere to be accounted, besides CO2 emission reduction. A worldwide network (Fluxnet) of flux measuring sites has been established. Since 2000 IBIMET-CNR has been managing and operating three Italian sites for flux measurements. At present, the group uses also the Sky Arrow ERA (Environmental Research Aicraft), a new platform capable of measuring surface mass and energy fluxes by means of airborne eddy covariance. Since 2000 IBIMET-CNR has been managing and operating three Italian sites for flux measurements.

The Sky Arrow ERA	The “nose” of Sky Arrow ERA

The Sky Arrow ERA

The Sky Arrow ERA is the result of a joint collaboration between US and Italian public and private organisation: NOAA-ATDD (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration – Atmospheric Turbulence Diffusion Division), SDSU (San Diego State University), IBIMET-CNR and Iniziative Industriali Italiane 3I, an Italian aeronautical Small Medium Enterprise. Since 2000 SDSU has been using the first Sky Arrow ERA for studies related to the carbon balance in the arctic regions. This know-howis now available in Europe as the first European Sky Arrow ERA, which has been used by IBIMET – CNR, was funded in the frame of the EU-CarbonEurope project cluster.. This aircraft performed extensive measurement campaigns in Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Italy both in summer and in winter 2001 and 2002.

CO2 fluxes measured during a transept in Holland black circles’ dimension is proportional to CO2 flux.

The FLUX SITES
The long-term exchange of CO2 between the atmosphere and biosphere needs to be investigated across a wide range of ecosystems in order to understand the effects of the inter-intra annual climate variations on the magnitude of carbon sequestration. The Ffluxes are measured by means of the eddy-correlation technique. IBIMET- CNR manages a flux tower in a typical Mediterranean ecosystem in the Pianosa island, where the gas exchange measurements can quantify interactions and feedbacks between climate and terrestrial ecosystem. This is only possible in this isolated site because of its very special topography and because of the complete absence of anthropogenic sources of CO2. A flux tower was established since 1999 on a plantation at the Nonantola site. This is a typical Kyoto forest. Ecosystem carbon balance is being continuously monitored to assess the exact amount of carbon sequestration in the plantation.

The Pianosa island tower	The Nonantola tower