Continuous eddy covariance measurements of CO₂, water vapor, and heat fluxes were obtained from a maize field within an oasis in northwest China from 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009. The experimental setup used was shown to provide reliable flux estimates on the basis of cross-checks made using various quality tests of the flux data. Results show that the highest half-hourly CO₂ fluxes (F_c) were −55.7 and 6.9 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ during the growing and nongrowing seasons, respectively. The daily net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) ranged from −14.7 to 2.2 g C m⁻² day⁻¹ during the growing season; however, the daily NEE fell to between 0.2 and 2.1 g C m⁻² day⁻¹ during the nongrowing season. The annual NEE calculated by integrating flux measurements and filling in missing and spurious data was about −487.9 g C m⁻². The total NEE during the growing season (−692.9 g C m⁻²) and the annual NEE were in the middle of the range, when compared with results obtained for maize fields in different studies and regions, whereas the differences between the off-season NEE from this study (205.0 g C m⁻²) and those defined in previous studies were very small. In addition, the seasonal variations in energy balance and evapotranspiration over the maize field were also addressed.

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