ESRC Laboratory Facilities, Equipment and Working Groups (This page is under Construction. Apologies)

Model: GV Instruments Isoprime in continuous flow mode

Read more about the Mass Spectroscopy Laboratory

Features: This equipment is used for analysis of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in aqueous samples. These samples are typically soil water, stream water, lake water or groundwater in origin.

Features: This instrument is used to analyze small samples of carbon dioxide and water vapor of gas samples collected from different depths of soil in the field. The IRGA is a differential analyzer run in a custom configuration so that a known concentration gas (N2) carries a small quantity of unknown concentration sample gas. The IRGA is able to determine the concentration of the unknown sample by calculating the difference in infrared absorption.

Features: This machine is used for the analysis of soil CO2 efflux measurement. Permanent collars are installed at field sites, and this chamber is placed on these to ensure a tight seal when measuring surface efflux. A pressure/vacuum airflow system expands and contracts a bellows to raise and lower the chamber over the soil collar to make the flux measurement.

Features: The AAS is used for standard chemical analysis of water samples. This includes major dissolved inorganic ions such as sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), potassium (K), and a number of heavy metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). Light is passed through the water sample, and as it is moving through the water, some of this light becomes absorbed. As the number of atoms in the light path increases, the amount of light absorbed also increases. Different ions absorb different wavelengths of light, thus a light source specific to each ion is used.

Features: This piece of equipment isused in the analysis of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4).

Features: Permanently buried membrane diffusion probes are used with an automated system comprising a Li-COR IRGA, pumps and valving. The diffusivity measurement cycle takes ~15 minutes. Designed and constructed in house.

CO2 Probes
Models: Vaisala GMP 222

Features: Miniature IRGA probes that are typically interfaced with a CR23x datalogger for continuous in situ monitoring of soil or air carbon dioxide concentrations.

Computing facilities:

30 servers and workstations running on Linux. We have access to ACEnet computational facilities

Field stations:
We operate a network of air-ground climate observatories in the region.