# Incubation system to assess gaseous emissions from environmental samples under controlled conditions

## TL;DR

This paper introduces ISAGE, a compact system to measure gaseous emissions from environmental samples under controlled conditions for better emission abatement strategies.

## Contribution

The ISAGE system provides a reproducible and validated method for measuring greenhouse gases and ammonia from environmental samples.

## Key findings

- ISAGE can measure methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and ammonia emissions from environmental samples.
- Validation trials showed measurement error for ammonia depends on temperature, scrubbing time, and headspace concentration.
- Calibration equations and validity ranges are proposed to ensure accurate ammonia volatilization estimates.

## Abstract

Gaseous emissions from agriculture need to be reduced to mitigate its environmental impact. In order to develop emission abatement strategies, systematic screening trials under controlled condition are an important basis for further evaluation in field trials. The Incubation System to Assess Gaseous Emissions (ISAGE) was designed to quantify emissions of greenhouse gases and ammonia from the same environmental sample (e.g. soil, fertilizers) with a versatile and compact setup. The ISAGE enables the user to:

Quantify methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions from environmental samples

Switch between steady-state and non-steady state configurations without sample disturbance

Position up to 12 incubation units within the area of an A3 sheet

Comparable incubation setups have been employed in previous studies, but without providing sufficient technical specifications required for reproducibility nor validation data demonstrating their function. The present method provides detailed assembly instructions, describes a protocol to assess the performance of the incubation setup and reports data validating the functionality of the ISAGE. In fact, validation trials revealed that the measurement error for ammonia volatilization is dependent on incubation temperature, scrubbing time and headspace concentration. Thus, validity ranges and calibration equations are proposed to obtain bias-free NH3 volatilization estimates.

Image, graphical abstract