GFS-3000

Gas exchange measurements rely on the basic principle that changes in CO₂ and H₂O concentrations are determined when air passes through a climate controlled chamber containing a plant sample.

The GFS-3000 is suitable for controlled laboratory settings as well as demanding field conditions.

The GFS-3000 perfectly complements with other Walz systems giving access to numerous aspects of photosynthesis research.

The Portable Gas-Exchange and Fluorescence System GFS-3000 enables wide range climate control. All environmental parameters relevant for plant photosynthesis (CO₂, H₂O, temperature, light, ventilation and flow) can be controlled automatically and over the full physiological range.

Optional fluorescence modules further expand the system’s capability. Experimental protocols for automatic light-curves or automatic CO₂-curves can be easily programmed.

• Control Unit 3200‐C containing the CO₂ and H₂O analyzer, as well as all components required for the CO₂, H₂O and flow control
• Standard Measuring Head 3010‐S featuring high application flexibility containing the ventilation system, temperature and light control
• LED Light Source 3041-L with warm white LED array providing up to 10 cm² homogenous illumination
• AC Power Supply 3200‐N for laboratory use
• Four Li-ion eSMART Batteries 98 Wh for field work. Li-ion eSMART Quad Charger for simultaneous recharging of up to four eSMART batteries.

• LED‐Array/PAM‐Fluorometer 3057‐FL for illumination of the leaf area and fluorescence measurements
• Fiberoptics PAM‐Fluorometer 3050‐F to analyze fluorescence in sunlight
• Miscellaneous accessories such as cuvettes and adapter plates offering user‐specific application options
• Accessories for product combinations with other Walz systems

Also, the complete equipment will be modified on customer request.

The modified system package GFS‐3000FL contains the LEDArray/PAM‐Fluorometer 3057‐FL instead of the LED Light Source 3041‐L. All other components remain the same as in the basic system package GFS‐3000. In terms of price, GFS‐3000FL offers an interesting option to combine gas exchange and fluorescence measurements.

The Control Unit 3200-C of the GFS-3000 contains a high accuracy non-dispersive 4-channel infrared gas analyzer for the determination of CO₂ (0-3000 ppm) and H₂O (0-75000 ppm) with 20 cm optical path length, 6 ml gold plated cells. The specially developed dualfrequency chopper technology allows simultaneous assessment of differential and absolute signal.

The analyzer is optimized for a very stable and accurate differential signal. The differential zero is indicated, allowing clear information about the stability of the measurement.

Due to the separation of analyzer and measuring head, the measuring head temperature does not influence the analyzer.

The integrated CO₂ control ranges from 0 to 2000 ppm CO₂. The CO₂ supply can be filled from cartridges. One cartridge contains 8 g, and provides CO₂ (340 ppm, standard flow rate) continuously for more than 48 hours. The actual CO₂-reserve is indicated. Alternatively an external CO₂-cylinder equipped with pressure reducer (6 bar) can be directly attached to the control unit.

Air flow through the cuvette is exactly adjusted between 300-1400 μmol s^-1 by a membrane pump controlled by a high precision electronic mass flow-meter. The mechanical flow indicators directly show flow balance and cuvette tightness.

The humidity control for drying and humidifying ranges from 0 to nearly 100% r.h. It consists of a drying and humidifying column and an automatic valve.

The Control Unit 3200‐C can be operated using various power solutions such as as Li-ion eSMART Battery 98 Wh, AC Power Supply 3200-N or car batteries (12-24 V; 3200-C/BC) The new lightweight Li-ion eSMART Battery 98 Wh provides trouble free shipment combined with the advantages of a high performance battery. Four eSMART batteries can be charged simultaniously in the provided Li-ion eSMART Quad Charger.
 

The Standard Measuring Head 3010-S features a clamp-on cuvette with a large measuring area of up to 10 cm² and a convenient closing mechanism. The symmetrical construction allows separate assessment of upper and lower leaf surface.

3010-S provides wide temperature-, light- and ventilation-control as well as a trigger button for the manual start of a user program.

The configuration of 3010-S can be changed easily requiring only a few accessories. The measuring area can easily be modified with area adapter plates. Additional flexibility is provided by various cuvettes e.g. for conifers or lichens/ mosses or a small chamber for the analysis of the complete above‐ground part of Arabidopsis plants.

The circuitry for the temperature and light control, the ventilation system and the sensor electronics are located in a detachable electronics box and can be used for self‐built measuring chambers.

The 3010-S has four temperature sensors: One Pt100 sensor per each cuvette half, a thermocouple for leaf temperature and a Pt100 for the external temperature.
The temperature control can be switched between three modes: Constant cuvette temperature, constant leaf temperature, or temperature variation parallel to ambient temperature regime with an adjustable offset. The last mode is especially well suited to assess plant responses in future temperature regimes.

Due to the high performance elements of temperature control, the cuvette temperature can be decreased by up to 10 K. Maximum temperature reached is 50 °C.

Both sides of the 3010-S feature a high-speed impeller for effective ventilation of the air surrounding the leaf.

Each measuring head contains its own calibration data, and can be freely exchanged between systems.

The 3010-S has three sensors for photosynthetic active radiation (PAR): One cosine corrected Mini Quantum Sensor MQS-B/GFS, located on top of the measuring head, and two additional sensors located inside each cuvette half. Light can be provided with the LED Light Source 3041-L to the upper or lower side of the cuvette. The light control can be either set to a constant PAR level from 0 up to ca. 3000 μmol m^-2 s^-1 or to track the ambient PAR.

Additional PAM measurement-options are supplied by the LED-Array/PAM-Fluorometer 3057-FL.

The trigger-button serves to store measuring points or starts a user program, while holding the measuring head.

For the determination of the maximum fluorescence signal (Fm), the leaf needs to be dark acclimated. The additional light-weight Dark Leaf Clips 3010-DLC, with positioning aid and sliding shutters, made from sun reflecting material, fit to the measuring area of the 3010-S.

The system package GFS-3000FL contains the same components as the system package GFS-3000, except that it includes the LED-Array/PAM-Fluorometer 3057-FL instead of the LED Light Source 3041-L.

The warm white LEDs provide a peak of blue light at 457 nm (16% between 400 and 500 nm) and the rest between 500 and 700 nm peaking at 625 nm.

The LED-Light Source 3041-L is only included in the system package GFS-3000; in the system package GFS-3000FL it is replaced by the LED-Array/PAM-Fluorometer 3057-FL.