Main subject area: Greenhouse gas emissions; data analysis
Dependable in-situ measurements of sinks and sources of greenhouse gases (GHG) form the basis for developing and testing more climate-friendly management practices. Chamber flux measurements are a common way to measure N2O emissions from agricultural land. There are no generally accepted standards for measurement equipment, protocol and data processing. In this project, various chambers and measurement protocols will be compared in a controlled laboratory environment and the data will be carefully analyzed. The aim is to improve the reliability of the measurements, hence providing better tools for research and GHG inventories.
October or February 2025
AU-Viborg, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele
30 ECTS: Theoretical thesis based on literature studies and/or analysis of issued and edited data sets.
45 ECTS: Experimental theses in which the student is responsible for collection and analysis of his/her own original data.
This master project can either be based on data analysis (30 ECTS), or data taken indoors in laboratory-like conditions by the MSc student his/herself (45 ECTS). Advancement skills in programming and statistical analysis could be useful in the project, though not a necessity. Christian Dold will be the main supervisor with additional support of postdoc Janne Korhonen. The MSc student will also work together with different researchers and technical staff. This MSc project will be linked to the VARN2O project.
Christiansen JR, Korhonen JF, Juszczak R, Giebels M, Pihlatie M. Assessing the effects of chamber placement, manual sampling and headspace mixing on CH 4 fluxes in a laboratory experiment. Plant and soil. 2011 Jun;343:171-85.
Pihlatie MK, Christiansen JR, Aaltonen H, Korhonen JF, Nordbo A, Rasilo T, Benanti G, Giebels M, Helmy M, Sheehy J, Jones S. Comparison of static chambers to measure CH4 emissions from soils. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 2013;171(172):124-36.
Pumpanen J, Kolari P, Ilvesniemi H, Minkkinen K, Vesala T, Niinistö S, Lohila A, Larmola T, Morero M, Pihlatie M, Janssens I. Comparison of different chamber techniques for measuring soil CO2 efflux. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 2004 Jun 20;123(3-4):159-76.
