Reactive nitrogen fluxes over peatland (Bourtanger Moor) and forest (Bavarian Forest National Park) using micrometeorological measurement techniques

Within the framework of the research projects NITROSPHERE and FORESTFLUX, field campaigns were carried out to investigate the biosphere-atmosphere exchange of reactive nitrogen compounds. We applied novel fast-response instruments in eddy-covariance setups for continuous determination of surface ammonia (NH₃) and total reactive nitrogen (ΣN_r) fluxes using two different analytical devices. While high-frequency measurements of ammonia were measured with a quantum cascade laser absorption spectrometer (QCL), a custom-built converter called TRANC coupled to a chemiluminescence detector was used for the determination of total reactive nitrogen. High-resolution data of surface-atmosphere fluxes of reactive compounds are still scarce, but highly desired for testing and validating local inferential and larger scale models. We provide access to campaign data including concentrations, fluxes and ancillary measurements of meteorological data. Campaigns were conducted in natural (forest) and semi-natural (peatland) ecosystem types. The published datasets stress the importance of recent advancements in laser spectrometry and help improve our understanding of the temporal variability of surface-atmosphere exchange in different ecosystems, thereby providing validation opportunities for inferential models simulating the exchange of reactive nitrogen.

A dataset description paper with the title "Reactive nitrogen fluxes over peatland and forest ecosystems using micrometeorological measurement techniques" has been published in the journal Earth System Science Data (https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/743/2022/).