Minimizing Field Time to Get Reasonable Greenhouse Gas Flux Estimates from Many Chambers.

Greenhouse gas measurements from soil are typically derived from static chambers placed in several replicate field plots and in multiple locations within a plot. Inherent variability in emissions is due to a number of known and unknown factors. Getting robust emission estimates from numerous chambers should therefore minimize time of researchers in the field to avoid unnecessary diurnal variations caused by long hours within the day in the field. We explored the option of a single end-point gas sampling along with an initial atmospheric sampling to obtain a linear emission rate per hour, as compared to multiple gas samplings throughout an hour of chamber exposure in the field (used to compute linear or non-linear response). Our results will be used to assess methodological resource efficiency along with scientific rigor.