An automated greenhouse gas detection system for carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane

温室气体排放正在推动全球气候变化。加拿大森林的农业做法和人为干扰/管理影响控制土壤中二氧化碳（CO2）、一氧化二氮（N2 O）和甲烷（CH 4）排放的微生物过程。我们需要一种能够同时测量这些气体的气相色谱仪系统，并配备100托盘自动进样器，以实现高效、高通量的分析。该设备支持研究项目，研究微生物介导的反应，导致农业和森林生态系统的有氧土壤环境中的呼吸和硝化作用，以及厌氧土壤中的反硝化作用和甲烷产生/消耗（例如，在河岸缓冲区的融雪和洪水之后）。正在进行的研究包括在魁北克进行的多项实地实验和受控的实验室培养，每年产生10，000多个样本用于分析CO2，N2 O和CH 4。我们的两台独立的CO2和N2 O气相色谱仪在过去2年中多次出现故障，影响了我们在预算范围内按时完成所需分析的能力。我们没有能力用现有的设备分析CH 4。我们绝对需要一个现代化的自动化温室气体分析系统来维持我们的研究计划。本提案中描述的具有成本效益和鲁棒性的气相色谱仪系统迫切需要提高我们的研究能力和生产力。

Greenhouse gas emissions are driving global climate change. Agricultural practices and human-induced disturbance/management of Canadian forests affect the microbial processes controlling carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions from soils. We are requesting a gas chromatograph system that can measure these gases simultaneously and is equipped with a 100-tray autosampler for efficient, high-throughput analysis. This equipment supports research programs that investigate the microbially-mediated reactions leading to respiration and nitrification in aerobic soil environments of agricultural and forest ecosystems, as well as denitrification and methane production/consumption in anaerobic soils (e.g., following snowmelt and flooding, in riparian buffers). Ongoing research includes multiple field experiments in Quebec and controlled laboratory incubations, generating more than 10,000 samples per year for analysis of CO2, N2O and CH4. Our two stand-alone gas chromatographs for CO2 and N2O have failed repeatedly in the past 2 years and are compromising our ability to complete required analysis on time and within budget. We have no capacity to analyze CH4 with the current equipment. We absolutely require a modern, automated system for greenhouse gas analysis to sustain our research programs. The cost-effective and robust gas chromatograph system described in this proposal is urgently needed to increase our research capacity and productivity.