Methane is emitted to the atmosphere from both anthropogenic and natural sources. One of the major anthropogenic sources is methane produced by bacteria in anaerobic environments such as rice pads and landfills. Land filling has for many years been the preferred waste disposal method, resulting in a large methane production with a large contribution to the global increase in…

Methane is a greenhouse gas (GHG) and the anthropogenic emission of methane to the atmosphere contributes to global warming. There are several anthropogenic methane sources, and the quantification of methane from these emission sources are often based on emission factors and model calculations making reporting uncertain. Reducing the methane emission is an effective way of reducing the…

The most common currency for estimating N₂ fixation is acetylene reduction to ethylene. Real-time estimates of nitrogen fixation are needed to close the global nitrogen budget and these remain a critical gap in both laboratory and field experiments. We present a new method for continuous real-time measurements of ethylene production: Acetylene Reduction Assays by Cavity ring-down…

Laser spectroscopy is an emerging technology for measuring nitrous oxide (N₂O) dynamics in the environment, but most studies have focused on atmospheric applications. We have coupled a commercially available cavity ring-down spectroscope (CRDS) (Picarro G5101-i isotopic N₂O analyzer) to an air/water gas…

We present a novel determination of the dissolution kinetics of inorganic calcite in seawater. We dissolved ¹³C-labeled calcite in unlabeled seawater, and traced the evolving …

Automated in situ instrumentation captured high-resolution surface water pCO₂, CH₄ and²²²Rn data at the creek mouth, and ∼500 m upstream in a sub-tropical mangrove ecosystem (Southern Moreton Bay, Australia, S27.78°, E153.38°) over a spring-neap-spring tidal cycle (∼15 …

Estuaries have high rates of primary production and respiration and can be hotspots for carbon dioxide and methane enriched submarine groundwater discharge. Here, we report high resolution pCO₂, CH₄, δ¹³C–CO₂, δ¹³C–CH₄…

Automated cavity ring down spectroscopy was used to make continuous measurements of dissolved methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide in a coral reef lagoon for 2 weeks (Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef). Radon (²²²Rn) was used to trace the influence of tidally driven pore water exchange on greenhouse gas dynamics. Clear tidal variation was…

Floods frequently produce deoxygenation and acidification in waters of artificially drained coastal acid sulfate soil (CASS) wetlands. These conditions are ideal for carbon dioxide and methane production. We investigated CO₂ and CH₄ dynamics and quantified carbon loss within an artificially drained CASS wetland during and after a flood. We separated the…

Fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from unconventional gas extraction processes (e.g. shale gas, tight gas and coal bed methane/coal seam gas) are poorly understood due in part to the extensive area over which these emissions may occur. We apply a rapid qualitative approach for source assessment at the scale of a large gas field. A mobile cavity ring down spectrometer (Picarro G2201-…

The replacement of native species by invasive Phragmites australis in coastal wetlands may impact ecosystem processes including fluxes of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄). To investigate differences in daytime CH…

This study presents two methods for estimating methane emissions from a waste water treatment plant (WWTP) along with results from a measurement campaign at a WWTP in Valence, France. These methods, chamber measurements and tracer release, rely on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and cavity ring-down spectroscopy instruments. We show that the tracer release method is suitable…