Under the Cover of Darkness: Nighttime Water Use by Native, Biofuel and Agricultural Crops of Illinois

This contributed to a growing body of data on how carbonyl sulfide can be used as a proxy for plant photosynthesis and stomatal conductance (both night and day). We show very strong evidence that the carbonyl sulfide fluxes at this site track the seasonal and daily variability in photosynthesis and this is strongly controlled by soil moisture and relative humidity. This is one of the first comprehensive analyses of the nocturnal fluxes to be used in land surface models to place more realistic constraints on the processes controlling nighttime stomatal conductance. We provide a first high resolution analysis of carbon monoxide in the Chicago suburbs and show the strong effect that weekday traffic has on carbon monoxide concentrations.