Methane and Carbon Dioxide Emission from Some Reservoirs in SE Poland

The results of emission measurements of carbon dioxide and methane from the surfaces of three man-made lakes in southeastern Poland (two little dam reservoirs—in Rzeszów and Wilcza Wola, and the biggest Polish reservoir situated in Solina) are presented in this paper. The experiments were conducted in summer and autumn of 2009. The gas fluxes on the water—atmosphere interface were measured in the littoral area by so called “static chamber” method. Carbon dioxide and methane concentrations in collected gas samples were measured using a Pye Unicam gas chromatograph (model PU-4410/19) equipped with a methanizer to detect low levels of CO₂ concentrations. The fluxes of determined gases ranged from −24.98 to 162.51 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ for carbon dioxide and from 0 to 235.60 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ for methane. The highest values of flux for both CH₄ and CO₂ were observed for Rzeszów Reservoir, the lowest ones—for Solina Reservoir. In some studied cases emission of CO₂ and CH₄ was as much high as in tropical reservoirs.