Working at the Rush Ranch flux tower in Suisun Marsh

Ellen Stuart-Haëntjens is working on a methane analyzers installed atop an eddy covariance flux tower at Rush Ranch in the Suisun Marsh. This tower is designed to monitor carbon dioxide and methane exchange between the wetland and the atmosphere. The instrumentation mounted on this tower allows scientists to investigate atmosphere-biosphere interactions, including how climate, disturbances, and other environmental factors impact the quantity of carbon stored or emitted by this ecosystem. These towers have been installed in a variety of ecosystems all around the world, including the artic tundra, temperate forests, coastal wetlands, prairie grasslands, and more. Tracing the carbon cycle helps unravel the processes involved in ecosystem carbon sequestration, food web interactions, etc.