DYNAMISM: A Low-Cost Automatic System for Measurements of Gas Exchange at Canopy Scale in Dynamic Conditions

DYNAMISM: A Low-Cost Automatic System for Measurements of Gas Exchange at Canopy Scale in Dynamic Conditions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article DYNAMISM: A Low-Cost Automatic System for Measurements of Gas Exchange at Canopy Scale in Dynamic Conditions Nicole Salvatori, Giorgio Alberti, Onno Muller, Uwe Rascher, Alessandro Peressotti This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-247933/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Obtaining instantaneous gas exchanges data is fundamental to gain information on photosynthesis. Leaf level data are reliable, but their scaling up to canopy scale is difficult as they are acquired in standard and/or controlled conditions, while natural environments are extremely dynamic. Responses to dynamic environmental conditions need to be considered, as measurements at steady state and their related models may overestimate total carbon (C) plant uptake. Results In this paper, we describe an automatic, low-cost measuring system composed of 12 open chambers (60 x 60 x 150 cm; around 400 euros per chamber) able to measure instantaneous CO 2 and H 2 O gas exchanges, as well as environmental parameters, at canopy level. We tested the system’s performance by simulating different CO 2 uptake and respiration levels using a tube filled with soda lime or pure CO 2 , respectively, and quantified its response time and measurement accuracy. We have been also able to evaluate the delayed response due to the dimension of the chambers, proposing a method to correct the data by taking into account the response time (t o ) and the residence time (τ). Finally, we tested the system by growing a commercial soybean variety in fluctuating and non-fluctuating light, showing the system to be fast enough to capture fast dynamic conditions. At the end of the experiment, we compared cumulative fluxes with total plant dry biomass. Conclusions The system slightly over-estimated (+ 7.6%) the total C uptake, even though not significantly, confirming its ability in measuring the overall CO 2 fluxes at canopy scale. Furthermore, the system resulted to be accurate and stable, allowing to estimate the response time and to determine steady state fluxes from unsteady state measured values. Thanks to the flexibility in the software and to the dimensions of the chambers, the system can be used for several applications and with different plant canopies by mimicking different (i.e. dynamic and static) environmental conditions. Plant Molecular Biology and Genetics Plant Physiology and Morphology Growth chamber canopy low-cost fluctuating light dynamic photosynthesis Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Full Text Due to technical limitations, full-text HTML conversion of this manuscript could not be completed. However, the latest manuscript can be downloaded and accessed as a PDF. Supplementary Files 1.Supplementary.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revision 27 Apr, 2021 Review # 2 received at journal 18 Apr, 2021 Reviewer # 2 agreed at journal 25 Mar, 2021 Review # 1 received at journal 10 Mar, 2021 Reviews received at journal 01 Mar, 2021 Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 01 Mar, 2021 Reviewers invited by journal 28 Feb, 2021 Editor assigned by journal 16 Feb, 2021 Submission checks completed at journal 16 Feb, 2021 Editor invited by journal 16 Feb, 2021 First submitted to journal 16 Feb, 2021 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-247933","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":14489615,"identity":"39a986aa-91cf-4ed2-9653-0f4b607d365e","order_by":0,"name":"Nicole Salvatori","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABFklEQVRIie3PMUvEMBTA8YRCuzzIGuHQr9CjUCsI+Sopt7oJksGhUuikuB74JfQb5HhwLuFcCxbpLc4FFycxuV6Xu9bZIX8ovEB/5IUQn+8/FtivdUPUn4ERINwN7qSniBwG+wecFHvijB41B4TEuieT15xHwbaVighWwvyrUx+z5P1hVdOqmQmmKXbH5KIMk1gaki8REq7NNaTNZpHR6hOAy9HFYoSQ55XdDUPJV5WEtL5KOa3QkvG39OSHiDMMF9+OJMuBMP0HKQh9xmC9uyXmAyFTi7m3rHn+YklmjATemCSTG0vqvNBmhLzhtu1uL8Xp611ZKyUFe7qf190NiugRsVPHZB8/mOVuosUkmOY+n8/ns/0CEhJl39xsW2wAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8773-1257","institution":"University of Trieste: Universita degli Studi di Trieste","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nicole","middleName":"","lastName":"Salvatori","suffix":""},{"id":14489616,"identity":"b348478b-8e8b-45cd-a574-cd97910f02e8","order_by":1,"name":"Giorgio Alberti","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Udine: Universita degli Studi di Udine","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Giorgio","middleName":"","lastName":"Alberti","suffix":""},{"id":14489617,"identity":"f8da2cb2-05f7-4b1a-9652-78647cb8111b","order_by":2,"name":"Onno Muller","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Forschungszentrum Jülich: Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Onno","middleName":"","lastName":"Muller","suffix":""},{"id":14489618,"identity":"94010a49-1515-4a91-ae89-9968a41c97cd","order_by":3,"name":"Uwe Rascher","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Forschungszentrum Jülich: Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Uwe","middleName":"","lastName":"Rascher","suffix":""},{"id":14489619,"identity":"915921d8-8ce8-4b4d-aa8a-0442355d866e","order_by":4,"name":"Alessandro Peressotti","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Udine: Universita degli Studi di Udine","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alessandro","middleName":"","lastName":"Peressotti","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2021-02-16 23:06:31","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-247933/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-247933/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":6759040,"identity":"cf803383-2682-42aa-abe3-383bb6d84f76","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-03-09 18:11:40","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1522797,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"(A) Schematic representation of DYNAMISM. The 12 chambers (not all represented here) are connected to the bigger chamber that acts as a buffer. The buffer is itself connected to outdoor and has an air conditioning inside to keep the temperature and humidity more stable, and a pressure sensor. The air flows from the buffer to the chambers. Air is sampled within each chamber and analysed by the Licor-7000 (IRGA). Each chamber is equipped with a LED system, a mass flow meter to measure the inlet flowrate, a solar bar, a thermistor and an aquarium pump placed at the top chamber. Chamber sampling and data acquisition is made through a CR1000X datalogger which itself controls a multiplexer and a relay controller (SDM CD16-AC). (B) Example of the control of the CR1000X output variables through the RTMC software. In this case, in the main screen are shown the CO2 and H2O changes in real-time in the sampled chamber, as well as other environmental parameters. Then in each chamber the desired parameters can be monitored, here we have set an alarm for chamber temperatures higher than 40° and a slider input to change incident PPFD.","description":"","filename":"Figure1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1/fcf069a74e89d86330ef2c46.png"},{"id":6759041,"identity":"5ae00429-1244-4c80-92ec-097ef7c2b3c1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-03-09 18:11:40","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":24787,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Light spectrum of the LED panels measured with FLoX at 10 cm distance (constant PPFD at 1876 ± 30 μmol m-2 s-1). The solid line is the mean, the grey shadow represents mean ± standard deviation (n=6).","description":"","filename":"Figure2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1/ce2d5cfcf13eb4cd15c4cc27.png"},{"id":6759300,"identity":"f8e8ea2a-5f89-4147-a688-a1659cc456e5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-03-09 18:14:40","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":14581,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Preliminary test results: measured CO2 fluxes after scrubbing inlet CO2 (negative values) or after injecting pure CO2 (positive values) versus modeled fluxes calculated using Equation 4 and 5 for photosynthesis and respiration, respectively.","description":"","filename":"Figure3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1/877f08987d8d843808326797.png"},{"id":6759039,"identity":"b895d024-62cd-4677-ad94-fcc0308e8897","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-03-09 18:11:40","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":31205,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Total percentage error (T) and percentage errors due to changes in air flux velocity (F) and in ΔCO2 (Δ) calculated from the partial derivation of equation 8. The parameter changes (x axis) are shown as normalized values (i.e. percentage change [0-100]) but the actual ranges of parameters are: F=[0.2 : 0.6] mol s-1 and ΔCO2 =[0 : -10] ppm. The boxplots show the aggregated values for all 12 chambers.","description":"","filename":"Figure4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1/553c2474e65d8a32e52a81c9.png"},{"id":6759851,"identity":"8d345f28-c6b9-4ff5-ab76-20e3f85abaac","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-03-09 18:17:40","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":665725,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Example of the scrubbing of CO2 with an air flux velocity (F) of 0.34 l s-1 (red line, measured data). The black line indicates the ∆CO2 corrected for the delay and residence time (τ and t0, respectively). The lines represent 5 seconds averaged values.","description":"","filename":"Figure5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1/d2034a4c85cc49e2e8bddc3e.png"},{"id":6759297,"identity":"3a7a6baf-632f-4e1f-bf1f-ea6c9bd123ed","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-03-09 18:14:40","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":68630,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"A: ∆CO2 changes due to fluctuations in light intensity. The vertical red dashed lines indicate the data used for fitting the model. B: Fitting of the data highlighted in A through equation 7 and estimation of steady state ∆CO2.","description":"","filename":"Figure6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1/fb5031b0f1a82a8cf36be635.png"},{"id":6759047,"identity":"012beee5-c223-4f65-a54c-952e27d93dd6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-03-09 18:11:40","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":569579,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Soybean CO2 fluxes in non-fluctuating (above) and fluctuating light conditions (below). Data are instantaneous measurements during one session (25th July at 10:00 am). Red lines represent photoflux density (PPFD), dots represent CO2 fluxes. CO2 fluxes data are corrected for the delayed response (t0 = 110 s). The lines represent 4 seconds averaged values. More negative values of A at higher PPFD values corresponds to higher photosynthesis (micro-meteorological convention).","description":"","filename":"Figure7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1/fcb2422e95326861190538b9.png"},{"id":6759045,"identity":"a043f454-973d-4919-82f5-5d1092881a15","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-03-09 18:11:40","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1969526,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"A: Daily course of net primary production (NPP) measured five weeks after sowing. Closed and open symbols are fluctuating (F) and non-fluctuating (NF) light conditions, respectively. In the inner panel, the daily course of PPFD is reported. Negative NPP values denote C uptake following the micro-meteorological convention. B: total final biomass derived from fluxes and from plant dry weights at harvest for the two considered treatments. Any significant difference was found at harvest. Vertical bars are standard error (n=3).","description":"","filename":"Figure8.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1/ef12ae96b9c7ae960fd90c14.png"},{"id":13602495,"identity":"2ad6cc5e-c4db-4354-9cf2-ad2d364804b4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-09-17 05:51:39","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":730261,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"1.Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1_covered.pdf"},{"id":6760163,"identity":"5fa87391-11b7-45fe-b3ff-bdc389eac7f8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-03-09 18:20:45","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":907767,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"1.Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1_stamped.pdf"},{"id":6759298,"identity":"54934713-ae7a-4269-985e-40a0adf21d75","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-03-09 18:14:40","extension":"docx","order_by":12,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":73967,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"1.Supplementary.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-247933/v1/51301a1ea221407342ea328d.docx"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eDYNAMISM: A Low-Cost Automatic System for Measurements of Gas Exchange at Canopy Scale in Dynamic Conditions\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"Full Text","content":"Due to technical limitations, full-text HTML conversion of this manuscript could not be completed. 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Leaf level data are reliable, but their scaling up to canopy scale is difficult as they are acquired in standard and/or controlled conditions, while natural environments are extremely dynamic. Responses to dynamic environmental conditions need to be considered, as measurements at steady state and their related models may overestimate total carbon (C) plant uptake.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eResults\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this paper, we describe an automatic, low-cost measuring system composed of 12 open chambers (60 x 60 x 150 cm; around 400 euros per chamber) able to measure instantaneous CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eO gas exchanges, as well as environmental parameters, at canopy level. We tested the system’s performance by simulating different CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e uptake and respiration levels using a tube filled with soda lime or pure CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, respectively, and quantified its response time and measurement accuracy. We have been also able to evaluate the delayed response due to the dimension of the chambers, proposing a method to correct the data by taking into account the response time (t\u003csub\u003eo\u003c/sub\u003e) and the residence time (τ). Finally, we tested the system by growing a commercial soybean variety in fluctuating and non-fluctuating light, showing the system to be fast enough to capture fast dynamic conditions. At the end of the experiment, we compared cumulative fluxes with total plant dry biomass.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusions\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe system slightly over-estimated (+ 7.6%) the total C uptake, even though not significantly, confirming its ability in measuring the overall CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e fluxes at canopy scale. Furthermore, the system resulted to be accurate and stable, allowing to estimate the response time and to determine steady state fluxes from unsteady state measured values. Thanks to the flexibility in the software and to the dimensions of the chambers, the system can be used for several applications and with different plant canopies by mimicking different (i.e. dynamic and static) environmental conditions.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"DYNAMISM: A Low-Cost Automatic System for Measurements of Gas Exchange at Canopy Scale in Dynamic Conditions","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2021-03-09 18:11:38","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-247933/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Major revision","date":"2021-04-27T20:11:18+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2021-04-19T00:00:00+00:00","index":2,"fulltext":"Recommendation: Reviewer's comments unavailable due to the journal's policy.\n"},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2021-03-26T00:00:00+00:00","index":2,"fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2021-03-11T00:00:00+00:00","index":1,"fulltext":"Recommendation: Reviewer's comments unavailable due to the journal's policy.\n"},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2021-03-02T00:00:00+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2021-03-02T00:00:00+00:00","index":1,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2021-03-01T00:00:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2021-02-17T00:00:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2021-02-16T23:00:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2021-02-16T23:00:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Plant Methods","date":"2021-02-16T05:53:24+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"plant-methods","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"plme","sideBox":"Learn more about [Plant Methods](http://plantmethods.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"13007","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/13007/3","title":"Plant Methods","twitterHandle":"@PlantMethods","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d4685b0b-8efd-4b1c-9070-9bc8a13d6ed9","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 9th, 2021","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":2849267,"name":"Plant Molecular Biology and Genetics"},{"id":2849268,"name":"Plant Physiology and Morphology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2021-06-22T11:46:45+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2021-03-09 18:11:38","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-247933","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-247933","identity":"rs-247933","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"WrCJVZZCHTDjtuVLN7oU0","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}