True eddy accumulation – Part 2: Theory and experiment of the short-time eddy accumulation method

Abstract. A new variant of the eddy accumulation method for measuring atmospheric exchange is derived and a prototype sampler is evaluated. The new method, termed short-time eddy accumulation (STEA), overcomes the requirement of fixed accumulation intervals in the true eddy accumulation method (TEA) and enables the sampling system to run in a continuous flow-through mode. STEA enables adaptive time-varying accumulation intervals which improves the system’s dynamic range and brings many advantages to flux measurement and calculation. The STEA method was successfully implemented and deployed to measure CO2 fluxes over an agricultural field in Braunschweig, Germany. The measured fluxes matched very well against a conventional EC system (slope of 1.04, R2 of 0.86). We provide a detailed description of the setup and operation of the STEA system in the continuous flow-through mode, devise an empirical correction for the effect of buffer volumes, and describe the important considerations for the successful operation of the STEA method. The STEA method reduces the bias and uncertainty in the measured fluxes and creates new ways to design eddy accumulation systems with finer control over sampling and accumulation. The results encourage the application of STEA for measuring fluxes of more challenging atmospheric constituents such as reactive species.