Measurements of carbon dioxide and heat fluxes during monsoon-2011 season over rural site of India by eddy covariance technique

Abstract

An increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere due to anthropogenic activities is responsible for global warming and hence in recent years, CO2 measurement network has expanded globally. In the monsoon season (July–September) of year 2011, we carried out measurements of CO2 and water vapour (H2O) concentrations along with wind and air temperature over a tropical site in south-east India having rural topography. To collect these observations, the instrumentations used were the sonic anemometer for wind and temperature, and the open path H2O/CO2 infrared gas analyzer for CO2 and H2O concentrations. Using these observations, we explored the diurnal variability of CO2 flux along with sensible and latent heat. The CO2 flux was positive during night-time and negative during daytime and in phase with convective instability. The CO2 flux relationships with the meteorological parameters such as wind speed, temperature and heat fluxes have been analysed. The seasonal (monsoon) half hour mean of CO2 flux which was −3.55 μmol m − 2 s − 1 indicated the experimental site as a CO2 sink region (net seasonal uptake). An increase in CO2 concentrations during weekends was not observed due to unavailability of heavy vehicular traffic.