Carbon Cycle Observations and Analyses

Carbon Cycle Observations and Analyses

Britt Stephens, NCAR and NIWA

Seasonal variations in O2 and CO2 in Southern Ocean Air

Scripps Flask Network and Baring Head Continuous Measurements

Palmer Station minus Cape Grim and South Pole average

Q1) Are global ocean biogeochemistry models accurately representing the complex thermal and biological influences in the Southern Ocean?

Q2) How much CO2 is emitted by the Southern Ocean each winter?

[Le Quéré et al., Science 2007]

Response of Southern Ocean ventilation to changes in winds and response of carbon fluxes to changes in ventilation

Baring Head, Scripps, and NOAA CO2, Baring Head and Arrival Heights N2O and 14CO2

Q) What role will the Southern Ocean play in future CO2 uptake?

GlobalView: Seasonal peak, trough, and mean over the Southern Ocean

Shipboard O2 and CO2 measurements can greatly increase Southern Ocean data coverage

R/V Lawrence M. Gould

R/V TangaroaR/V Nathaniel B. Palmer

Autonomous Inexpensive Robust CO2 Analyzer (AIRCOA)

Regional Atmospheric Continuous CO2 Network in the Rocky Mountains (Rocky RACCOON, http://raccoon.ucar.edu)

NCAR - NOAA: 0.07 ± 0.21 ppm n = 347

CarbonTracker observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) and wind field analyses

Q1) Can New Zealand carbon fluxes be constrained from atmospheric concentration measurements?

Q2) What would the optimal location be for a third continuous CO2 instrument?

0.1 PgCyr-1 in, 0.08 out 0.1 PgCyr-1 in, 0.01 out

[figures courtesy A. Jacobsen]

HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations of Atmospheric Tracers

5 loops over next 3 years, starting in January 2009

NCAR Airborne O2 Instrument

HIPPO (PIs: Harvard, NCAR/NIWA, Scripps, and NOAA): A global and seasonal survey of CO2, O2, CH4, CO, N2O, H2, SF6, COS, CFCs, HCFCs, O3, H2O, and hydrocarbons

START-08/pre-HIPPO Campaign, April - June 2008, descent into Grand Forks, North Dakota