A Global Database of Gas Fluxes from Soils after Rewetting or Thawing, Version 1.0

The resulting database includes 222 field and laboratory observations focused on rewetting of dry soils, and 116 field laboratory observations focused on thawing of frozen soils studies conducted from 1956 to 2010. Fluxes of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, nitrogen oxide, and ammonia (CO2, CH4, N2O, NO and NH3) were compiled from the literature and the flux rates were normalized for ease of comparison.

Field observations of gas flux following rewetting of dry soils include events caused by natural rainfall, simulated rainfall in natural ecosystems, and irrigation in agricultural lands. Similarly, thawing of frozen soils include field observations of natural thawing, simulated freezing-thawing events (i.e., thawing of simulated frozen soil by snow removal), and thawing of seasonal ice in temperate and high latitude regions (Kim et al., 2012).