Releases of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from thawing permafrost are expected to be among the largest feedbacks to climate from arctic ecosystems. However, the current net carbon (C) balance of terrestrial arctic ecosystems is unknown. Recent studies suggest that these ecosystems are sources, sinks, or approximately in balance at present…. More
Independent measurements of the major energy balance flux components are not often consistent with the principle of conservation of energy. This is referred to as a lack of closure of the surface energy balance. Most results in the literature have shown the sum of sensible and latent heat fluxes measured by eddy covariance to be… More
Continuous measurements of the surface energy balance components (net radiation Rn, sensible heat flux H, latent heat flux LE, ground heat flux G, and CO2 fluxes began in early June of 1995 at the Little Washita Watershed, near Chickasha, Oklahoma. A severe drought during 1998 provided a unique opportunity to evaluate the range of fluxes… More