Measurement of carbon dioxide flux from tropical peatland in Indonesia using the nocturnal temperature-inversion trap method

Evaluation of CO2 flux from peatland soil respiration is important to understand the effect of land use change on the global carbon cycle and climate change and particularly to support carbon emission reduction policies. However, quantitative estimation of emitted CO2 fluxes in Indonesia is constrained by existing field data. Current methods for CO2 measurement are limited by high initial cost, manpower, and the difficulties associated with construction issues. Measurement campaigns were performed using a newly developed nocturnal temperature-inversion trap method, which measures the amount of CO2 trapped beneath the nocturnal inversion layer, in the dry season of 2013 at a drained tropical peatland near Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. This method is cost-effective and data processing is easier than other flux estimation methods. We compared CO2 fluxes measured using this method with the published data from the existing eddy covariance and closed chamber methods. The maximum value of our measurement results was 10% lower than maximum value of eddy covariance method and average value was 6% higher than average of chamber method in drained tropical peatlands. In addition, the measurement results shows good correlation with groundwater table. The results of this comparison suggest that this methodology for the CO2 flux measurement is useful for field research in tropical peatlands. © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd.