ADC BioScientific - Soil Respiration Chamber

Field soil respiration measurements
Soil respiration, or soil C02 flux, can be defined as the net C02 production from soil, primarily as a result of soil microbial biomass decomposition.
Soil flux is the largest natural source of atmospheric C02 and is of growing interest across an expanding range of environmental research disciplines.

High quality soil chamber design
ADC BioScientific Ltd. has developed a new high quality soil respiration chamber for use with the ADC LC/ (-SD) and LCpro (-SD) portable photosynthesis systems.

The chamber comprises a low, stainless steel collar and a detachable upper compartment which connects directly to the chamber handle of either system. Differential C02 flux measurements are made by the highly accurate, miniaturised C02 IRGA, located directly adjacent to the soil chamber in the handle of the LCi-SD or LCpro-SD system.

Easy to fit
The collar is easily inserted into the soil using the tool provided, prior to measurements being made. Optimal positioning of the chamber is therefore made possible, regardless of soil condition or type.

The chamber is specifically designed for short-term, attended measurements. Additional, specialised collars (see overleaf) may be left in the ground, making longer-term study possible.

Minimised pressure gradients
Pressure variations in some chamber designs can lead to an artificial suppressing or enhancing of C02 flux from the soil. The incorporation of a novel pressure release valve ensures that there is no difference between the chamber head space pressure and the outside ambient atmospheric pressure

Insensitive to wind
There is no change in measured data when air flows over the chamber at varying speeds and in different directions.
A soil temperature sensor is supplied as standard with each chamber. The LC/ or LCpro PAR sensor can be mounted on the top of the soil chamber.

Automatic configuration
Once connected to either the LC/ or LCpro, the systems can be automatically configured to measure and display soil flux data rather than photosynthesis measurements.

Spatial Distribution Studies
The availability of additional soil collars allows multiple soil flux measurements to be performed, for example on a large field site, each collar defining a separate analysis area.

These stainless steel collars can be left in the soil enabling long-term comparative studies to be performed. Alternatively, adapters are available for standard size soil waste pipes to be used as collars.

Grass Photosynthesis
The robust, transparent upper compartment ensures that a true Net C02 Exchange Rate is measured, taking into account any plant material on the soil surface. The chamber may also be used to measure ambient photosynthetic activity by small plants and grasses.

• Chamber construction
• Collar: Stainless steel
• Upper chamber: Cast Acrylic
• Chamber Volume: 1L
• Diameter: 130mm
• Height:
• Collar: 75mm
• Upper chamber: 70mm
• Chamber weight:
• Collar: 325g
• Upper chamber: 320g
• Direct soil temperature:
• Microchip thermistor.
• Range: 5°C-50°i Precision: 1.5%
• Linearised to 0.5°C