Feasibility of using airborne CO sub(2) flux measurements for the imaging of the rate of biomass production

The statistical characteristics of CO sub(2) flux measurements derived from airborne vertical wind and CO sub(2) concentration data by the eddy correlation method are examined. The imaging of regions of reduced or enhanced biomass production is complicated by the large fluctuations observed in flux data caused by the turbulent eddies that themselves produce the CO sub(2) flux. The statistical characteristics of the flux limit the resolution in spatial distribution and levels of intensity of any image that can be produced. This paper shows that, for imaging areas of crop damage, several kilometers of aircraft data must be averaged to produce a reasonably stable mean value. To image smaller scale features requires several passes of the aircraft.