Fieldwork Update: Following a Hot Summer on the Floodplain

Last week, we visited our field sites to check the performance and condition of our automated chambers. The good news is that water levels in two of the rivers have increased, resulting in greater river – floodplain connectivity!

The higher water level did, however, bring an unexpected challenge: we could no longer reach one of our automated chambers floating on the Biebrza River. Luckily, one of our colleagues took the opportunity for a swim and successfully retrieved it. Fieldwork is fun! 😄

Summer also leaves its mark on our equipment: plants have started growing on some of the chambers! 🌱 The warm summer months are particularly challenging for electronic components because of high temperatures and humidity. Despite these conditions, our systems have performed very well, and we are collecting an exciting continuous record of CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes throughout this exceptionally hot summer.

Long-term automated measurements like these allow us to capture how greenhouse gas emissions respond to changing hydrological conditions, including changes that we might easily miss with occasional field sampling.