Abstract

The accumulation of gases into our atmosphere is a growing global concern that requires considerable quantification of the emission rates and mitigate the accumulation of gases in the atmosphere, especially the greenhouse gases (GHG). In agriculture there are many sources of GHG that require attention in order to develop practical mitigation strategies. Measuring these GHG sources often rely on highly technical instrumentation originally designed for applications outside of the emissions research in agriculture. Although the open-path laser (OPL) and open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectroscopic techniques are used in agricultural research currently, insight into their contributing error to emissions research has not been the focus of these studies. The objective of this study was to assess the applicability and performance (accuracy and precision) of OPL and OP-FTIR spectroscopic techniques for measuring gas concentration from agricultural sources. We measured the mixing ratios of trace gases methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and ammonia (NH3), downwind of point and area sources with known release rates. The OP-FTIR provided the best performance regarding stability of drift in stable conditions. The CH4 OPL accurately detected the low background (free-air) level of CH4; however, the NH3 OPL was unable to detect the background values < 10 ppbv.

Highlights

  • Agriculture contributes approximately 10−12% of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) entering the atmosphere in 2010 (Smith et al, 2014)

  • The open-path laser (OPL) and open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR)) spectroscopic techniques are used in agricultural research currently, insight into their contributing error to emissions research has not been the focus of these studies

  • We found that the enhanced mixing ratios of the source of CH4, N2O, and NH3 measured by OP-FTIR followed a similar correspondence (Fig. 3). 240

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Summary

Introduction

Agriculture contributes approximately 10−12% of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) entering the atmosphere in 2010 (Smith et al, 2014). Mathematical models of atmospheric dispersion allow fluxes to be inferred from concentration measurements and boundary layer wind statistics Studies of using these combined OP and dispersion techniques have been reported extensively, such as dairy farms (Bjorneberg et al, 2009; Harper et al, 2009; VanderZaag et al, 2014), grazing cattle (Laubach et al, 2016; Tomkins et al, 2011), cattle feedlots (Bai et al, 2015; Loh et al, 2008; McGinn and Flesch, 2018), boiler production (Harper et al, 2010), storage lagoon (Bühler et al, 2020; McGinn et al, 2008), animal waste treatment (Bai et al, 2020; Flesch et al, 2011; Flesch et al, 2012), bush fire (Paton-Walsh et al, 2014), geosequestration from industries (Feitz et al, 2018; Loh et al, 2009), and urban vehicle emissions (Phillips et al, 2019). Fluctuations of around 10 ppbv characterized the 306 limit on the resolution of the instrument

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