A high-altitude balloon platform for determining exchange of carbon dioxide over agricultural landscapes

Bouche, Angie; Beck-Winchatz, Bernhard; Potosnak, Mark J.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5707-2016

Articles | Volume 9, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5707-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5707-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 9, issue 12

Research article

|

29 Nov 2016

Research article |

| 29 Nov 2016

A high-altitude balloon platform for determining exchange of carbon dioxide over agricultural landscapes

Angie Bouche, Bernhard Beck-Winchatz, and Mark J. Potosnak

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5707-2016-supplement

Data sets

AmeriFlux data AmeriFlux http://ameriflux.lbl.gov/data/download-data/?site_id=US-Bo1

MODIS data NASA http://reverb.echo.nasa.gov/

NCEP data NOAA http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/cgi-bin/data/narr/plothour.pl

NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data NOAA ftp://arlftp.arlhq.noaa.gov/pub/archives/

Short summary

We describe a novel method of measuring the exchange of carbon dioxide over croplands using a high-altitude balloon (HAB). Our methodology uses two balloon launches on a single day to measure atmospheric changes in carbon dioxide and then relate them to the photosynthesis and respiration of the crops. Our results are compared to satellite measures of greenness and a research site in Bondville, Illinois. A future goal is to recruit citizen scientists to perform the launches.