Nitrous oxide fluxes related to soil freeze and thaw periods identified using heat pulse probes

Abstract

Surface N2O fluxes have not been unequivocally linked to soil profile conditions, in particular the timing of water phase change. The heated needle probe is a sensor that has the potential to monitor in situ apparent volumetric heat capacity (Ca), which considers latent heat transfer, during freezing and thawing. The objective of this study was to relate the timing of N2O flux to the occurrence of soil water phase change between liquid and ice as determined by Ca in no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) plots monitored from fall to spring. Half-hourly micrometeorological N2O fluxes were measured using a tunable diode laser trace gas analyzer. Apparent heat capacity was measured at 5-cm depth using three 4-cm-long parallel needles, two equipped with thermistors and one with a heater. Two N2O flux events were observed for CT in January, followed by the main emission event in early March. For NT, only one emission event occurred, with lower magnitude than the CT event, and a later starting and ending date. The apparent heat capacity measured in situ with HPP showed a different temporal pattern between NT and CT, with CT presenting more phase change events. Two out of the three N2O emission events in CT that occurred during winter and early spring occurred immediately after phase change from ice to liquid water at 5-cm depth. The N2O flux associated with the phase change during the main thaw event in CT was an exponential function of the soil surface temperature increasing sharply when T > 0°C, but with smaller fluxes once T was > 5°C. The temperature response observed is consistent with the suggestion of a breakdown in the N2O reduction process in the 0 to 5°C range, while the N2O production enzymes are less affected by low temperature.Key words: Nitrous oxide flux, freeze-thaw cycles, heat pulse probes, no-tillage, conventional tillage