Abstract. Rice paddy fields are one of the greatest anthropogenic sources of methane (CH4), the third most important greenhouse gas after water vapour and carbon dioxide. In agricultural fields, CH4 is usually measured with the closed chamber technique, resulting in discontinuous series of measurements performed over a limited area, that generally do not provide sufficient information on the short-term variation of the fluxes. On the contrary, aerodynamic techniques have been rarely applied for the measurement of CH4 fluxes in rice paddy fields. The eddy covariance (EC) technique provides integrated continuous measurements over a large area and may increase our understanding of the underlying processes and diurnal and seasonal pattern of CH4 emissions in this ecosystem. For this purpose a Fast Methane Analyzer (Los Gatos Research Ltd.) was installed in an eddy-covariance field set-up in a rice paddy field in the Po Valley (Northern Italy). Methane fluxes were measured during the rice growing season, both with EC and with manually operated closed chambers. Methane fluxes were strongly influenced by the presence of the water table, with emissions peaking when it was above 10–12 cm. Further studies are required to evaluate if water table management could decrease CH4 emissions. The development of rice plants and soil temperature were also responsible of the seasonal variation on the fluxes. The EC measured showed a diurnal cycle in the emissions, which was more relevant during the vegetative period, and with CH4 emissions being higher in the late evening, possibly associated with higher water temperature. The comparison between both measurement techniques shows that greater fluxes are measured with the chambers, especially when higher fluxes are being produced, resulting in 30 % higher seasonal estimations with the chambers than with the EC (41.1 and 31.8 g CH4 m−2 measured with chambers and EC respectively). The differences may be a result of the combined effect of overestimation with the chambers, the possible underestimation by the EC technique and of not having considered the daily course of the fluxes for the calculation of seasonal emissions from chambers.
Comparison of Closed Chamber and Eddy Covariance Methods to Improve the Understanding of Methane Fluxes from Rice Paddy Fields in Japan
