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Diel and seasonal nitrous oxide fluxes determined by floating chamber and gas transfer equation methods in agricultural irrigation watersheds in southeast China

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Abstract

Agricultural nitrate leaching and runoff incurs high nitrogen loads in agricultural irrigation watersheds, constituting one of important sources of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O). Two independent sampling campaigns of N2O flux measurement over diel cycles and N2O flux measurements once a week over annual cycles were carried out in an agricultural irrigation watershed in southeast China using floating chamber (chamber-based) and gas transfer equation (model-based) methods. The diel and seasonal patterns of N2O fluxes did not differ between the two measurement methods. The diel variation in N2O fluxes was characterized by the pattern that N2O fluxes were greater during nighttime than daytime periods with a single flux peak at midnight. The diel variation in N2O fluxes was closely associated with water environment and chemistry. The time interval of 9:00–11:00 a.m. was identified to be the sampling time best representing daily N2O flux measurements in agricultural irrigation watersheds. Seasonal N2O fluxes showed large variation, with some flux peaks corresponding to agricultural irrigation and drainage episodes and heavy rainfall during the crop-growing period of May to November. On average, N2O fluxes calculated by model-based methods were 27% lower than those determined by the chamber-based techniques over diel or annual cycles. Overall, more measurement campaigns are highly needed to assess regional agricultural N2O budget with low uncertainties.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41301244, 41225003), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0201200), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KYTZ 201404, KYZ201621).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Agriculture and GHGs Mitigation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

    Shuang Wu, Jie Chen, Chen Li, Delei Kong, Kai Yu, Shuwei Liu & Jianwen Zou

  2. Jiangsu Key Lab and Engineering Center for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China

    Delei Kong, Shuwei Liu & Jianwen Zou

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  1. Shuang Wu
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  2. Jie Chen
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Correspondence to Jianwen Zou.

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Wu, S., Chen, J., Li, C. et al. Diel and seasonal nitrous oxide fluxes determined by floating chamber and gas transfer equation methods in agricultural irrigation watersheds in southeast China. Environ Monit Assess 190, 122 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-018-6502-0

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