Rapidly rising atmospheric CO₂ concentration and it’s potential impact on future climatic conditions is an issue of global economic and political significance.

Natural biomass respiration is a major carbon source. Understanding soil flux and it’s relationship with other sources and sinks within the carbon cycle are currently subject to increasing scientific scrutiny.

The new ACE system (Automated Soil CO₂ Exchange system) is designed for the long-term, unattended monitoring of soil flux. The automated design allows the soil area to be exposed to ambient conditions between analysis cycles. The soil chamber then automatically closes prior to soil flux measurements being made.

The ACE system features a highly accurate CO₂ infrared gas analyzer housed directly inside the soil chamber assembly. There is therefore no long gas tubing connections between the chamber and a separate analyzer.

This close proximity of the analyzer ensures the fastest possible response times to CO₂ changes and also avoids any potential gas “hang ups” in the long lengths of tubing. Experimental set up is much simpler and the system is much more field robust.

ACE Network

Although an ACE Station can function fully independently for single point measurements, it is typical that a number of Stations will be used in combination, as a network, at an experimental field site.

Up to 30 ACE Stations can be connected together in an ACE Network via an ACE Master control unit. This Master control unit will supply power to and collect data from all Stations and control all Stations within the experiment.

Connections between the ACE Master control unit and each ACE Station is by electrical cable only. As each ACE Station is a fully integrated system with an integral CO2 IRGA, no long lengths of gas tubing are needed to be run over the field site. As a result each ACE Station can be in excess of 100 meters from the Master control unit. The ACE network is very power efficient as no large pumps are required to transport gas from the chamber to an analyzer several meters away.

Individual ACE Stations can be taken off the ACE network without the need to stop the whole experiment.

See the ACE system in action! (10 seconds, 2 MB)