Stop 11 of 12
Greenhouse gas exchange
TERN Flux station
An Eddy Covariance Flux Tower measuring gas exchange between land, vegetation and the atmosphere.
Look forLook for the flux tower rising above the vegetation canopy, at the edge of pasture and forest.
What this is
- A flux tower continuously measures gas exchange between the land surface, soil and vegetation, and the atmosphere. It monitors from several metres up to 2km in the upwind direction.
- A flux is how much energy or mass moves through a unit area per unit time. An eddy is a rotating parcel of air moving across the land surface. Covariance describes how two things change together.
Why it matters
- Flux tower data lets researchers track greenhouse gas exchange by ecosystems and see how land management practices affect emissions.
- Changing greenhouse gas concentrations in eddies over time reveal whether an ecosystem is a source (releases more carbon than it absorbs) or a sink (absorbs more than it releases).
What to notice
- The tower structure rising above the vegetation canopy.
- Its position relative to the surrounding pasture and forest in the upwind direction.
Research connection
Combined with soil respiration, biomass and modelling, flux tower measurements help estimate carbon stored in vegetation and, by subtraction, carbon stored in soil. Part of the TERN Ecosystem Observatory network.
Source: QUT Engaging Science Trail, Stop 11
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Next on the trail
Stop 12: Pasture soil carbon project
Stop 12 sits beside this station in the northwest paddock, at the furthest point of the trail.
When you arrive, look forLook for pasture with automated greenhouse-gas chambers positioned across the soil carbon research plots.
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