Application of flux footprint equations from Kljun et al. (2015) to field eddy-covariance systems for footprint characteristics into flux network datasets

Abstract. Gas fluxes passing through an eddy-covariance (EC) system's measurement volume reflect the outgassing rate of these molecules from an upwind area known as the “flux footprint”. While sources/sinks of these molecules may be uniform over a flat field, their spatial contribution to the measured fluxes is not. Thus, understanding the contribution to measured fluxes and the spatial quantification of sources/sinks from the measured fluxes requires footprint analysis. Such analysis yields flux footprint characteristics, which commonly include upwind maximum footprint location, upwind fetch containing certain percentages of measured flux (70 %, 80 %, 90 %), and the percent of flux from a user-defined upwind fetch of interest. These characteristics are included in the datasets of flux networks such as ChinaFlux, AmeriFlux, and FluxNet. Ideally, the characteristics are calculated in real-time and on-site by EC systems in the field, but this has often not been the case due to the calculations being computationally challenging. For field applications, this study develops the equations and algorithms for these characteristics from analytical crosswind-integrated flux footprint equations. The development shows that in-field computation is made feasible by the following means: using time-efficient algorithms, taking advantage of the nondimensional nature of the footprint equations of Kljun et al. (2015), implementing practical limits on numerical integration, and developing a differential-based estimation of boundary layer height for each EC data output interval. Accuracy of in-field calculations is maintained by the selection of footprint equations based on boundary-layer conditions and considerations of integration methods and computation techniques. This computational approach may also be applied to footprint analyses over complex terrain, nonuniform sources/sinks, or in cases where other footprint equations are used. The most popular application of footprint analysis is to optimize the EC sensor height for maximization of measured fluxes from an area of interest. This optimization using the nondimensional footprint equations is discussed, which leads to a practical methodology. This work serves as a technical reference for users or developers of EasyFlux programs, widely used in Campbell Scientific EC systems globally.