Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Assessment of Methane and Nitrous Oxide Fluxes from Paddy Field by Means of Static Closed Chambers Maintaining Plants Within Headspace
Published on: September 6, 2018
Approaches for quantifying reactive and low-volatility biogenic organic compound emissions by vegetation enclosure
1Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Abstract:
The high reactivity and low vapor pressure of many biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) make it difficult to measure whole-canopy fluxes of BVOC species using common analytical techniques. The most appropriate approach for estimating these BVOC fluxes is to determine emission rates from dynamic vegetation enclosure measurements. After scaling leaf- and branch-level emission rates to the canopy level, these fluxes can then be used in models to determine BVOC influences on atmospheric chemistry and aerosol processes. Previously published reports from enclosure measurements show considerable variation among procedures with limited guidelines or standard protocols to follow. This article reviews this literature and describes the variety of enclosure types, materials, and analysis techniques that have been used to determine BVOC emission rates. The current review article is followed by a companion paper which details a comprehensive enclosure technique that incorporates both recommendations from the literature as well as insight gained from theoretical calculations and practical experiences. These methods have yielded new BVOC emission data for highly reactive monoterpenes (MT) and sesquiterpenes (SQT) from a variety of vegetation species.

