Experimental set-ups
Guyaflux Tower
The Guyaflux experimental unit for measuring greenhouse gas exchanges is located in the Paracou forest, in the town of Sinnamary, French Guiana. Its main equipment is a 55-meter-high flow tower that measures gas exchanges between the rainforest and the atmosphere in real time.
Objectives
This unit studies long-term greenhouse gas exchanges and balances between ecosystems and the atmosphere, in order to understand the influence of environmental factors in the context of climate change. Within the unit, it is managed by INRAE.
Installation
In 2003, INRA, in collaboration with its Silvolab partners, decided to set up a new workshop site in French Guiana: Guyaflux . In addition to providing continuous flow measurements above the canopy, this site can be used for complementary research aimed, for example, at breaking down carbon and water flows by compartment (soil, roots, stems, canopies). In particular, it provides permanent access to the canopy for leaf harvesting and in situ exchange measurements, gas sampling for measurements of 13C and 18O isotopic composition in air CO2, and estimates of soil and root contributions to respiratory fluxes.
The map below shows the location of the tower and the monitoring plots (quadrilaterals) on the Paracou research site. The footprint (ellipse) is the main area of forest whose greenhouse gas changes are recorded by the sensors at the top of the tower.
Main measures
- CO2, CH4, N2O and H2O flows (turbulent or chamber correlations)
- Micro-climate above and inside the canopy
- Tree growth
- Litter biomass
- Tree transpiration
- Phenology monitoring
The system has been accredited as an ICOS Associated Site since 2019, and measurements are available online in real time on their website.
Funding
The installation was financed in 2002 - 2003 as part of the XIIth State-Region Plan for French Guiana, and has since been supported by INRAE, LabEx Ceba, CEA Saclay and the University of Toulouse.
