Law R. M.

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Law
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R. M.
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  • Article
    Sea–air CO2 fluxes in the Southern Ocean for the period 1990–2009
    (Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2013-06-19) Lenton, Andrew ; Tilbrook, Bronte ; Law, R. M. ; Bakker, Dorothee C. E. ; Doney, Scott C. ; Gruber, Nicolas ; Ishii, Masao ; Hoppema, Mario ; Lovenduski, Nicole S. ; Matear, Richard J. ; McNeil, B. I. ; Metzl, Nicolas ; Mikaloff Fletcher, Sara E. ; Monteiro, Pedro M. S. ; Rodenbeck, C. ; Sweeney, Colm ; Takahashi, Taro
    The Southern Ocean (44–75° S) plays a critical role in the global carbon cycle, yet remains one of the most poorly sampled ocean regions. Different approaches have been used to estimate sea–air CO2 fluxes in this region: synthesis of surface ocean observations, ocean biogeochemical models, and atmospheric and ocean inversions. As part of the RECCAP (REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes) project, we combine these different approaches to quantify and assess the magnitude and variability in Southern Ocean sea–air CO2 fluxes between 1990–2009. Using all models and inversions (26), the integrated median annual sea–air CO2 flux of −0.42 ± 0.07 Pg C yr−1 for the 44–75° S region, is consistent with the −0.27 ± 0.13 Pg C yr−1 calculated using surface observations. The circumpolar region south of 58° S has a small net annual flux (model and inversion median: −0.04 ± 0.07 Pg C yr−1 and observations: +0.04 ± 0.02 Pg C yr−1), with most of the net annual flux located in the 44 to 58° S circumpolar band (model and inversion median: −0.36 ± 0.09 Pg C yr−1 and observations: −0.35 ± 0.09 Pg C yr−1). Seasonally, in the 44–58° S region, the median of 5 ocean biogeochemical models captures the observed sea–air CO2 flux seasonal cycle, while the median of 11 atmospheric inversions shows little seasonal change in the net flux. South of 58° S, neither atmospheric inversions nor ocean biogeochemical models reproduce the phase and amplitude of the observed seasonal sea–air CO2 flux, particularly in the Austral Winter. Importantly, no individual atmospheric inversion or ocean biogeochemical model is capable of reproducing both the observed annual mean uptake and the observed seasonal cycle. This raises concerns about projecting future changes in Southern Ocean CO2 fluxes. The median interannual variability from atmospheric inversions and ocean biogeochemical models is substantial in the Southern Ocean; up to 25% of the annual mean flux, with 25% of this interannual variability attributed to the region south of 58° S. Resolving long-term trends is difficult due to the large interannual variability and short time frame (1990–2009) of this study; this is particularly evident from the large spread in trends from inversions and ocean biogeochemical models. Nevertheless, in the period 1990–2009 ocean biogeochemical models do show increasing oceanic uptake consistent with the expected increase of −0.05 Pg C yr−1 decade−1. In contrast, atmospheric inversions suggest little change in the strength of the CO2 sink broadly consistent with the results of Le Quéré et al. (2007).
  • Article
    Sea–air CO2 fluxes in the Indian Ocean between 1990 and 2009
    (Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2013-11-06) Sarma, V. V. S. S. ; Lenton, Andrew ; Law, R. M. ; Metzl, Nicolas ; Patra, Prabir K. ; Doney, Scott C. ; Lima, Ivan D. ; Dlugokencky, Edward J. ; Ramonet, M. ; Valsala, V.
    The Indian Ocean (44° S–30° N) plays an important role in the global carbon cycle, yet it remains one of the most poorly sampled ocean regions. Several approaches have been used to estimate net sea–air CO2 fluxes in this region: interpolated observations, ocean biogeochemical models, atmospheric and ocean inversions. As part of the RECCAP (REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes) project, we combine these different approaches to quantify and assess the magnitude and variability in Indian Ocean sea–air CO2 fluxes between 1990 and 2009. Using all of the models and inversions, the median annual mean sea–air CO2 uptake of −0.37 ± 0.06 PgC yr−1 is consistent with the −0.24 ± 0.12 PgC yr−1 calculated from observations. The fluxes from the southern Indian Ocean (18–44° S; −0.43 ± 0.07 PgC yr−1 are similar in magnitude to the annual uptake for the entire Indian Ocean. All models capture the observed pattern of fluxes in the Indian Ocean with the following exceptions: underestimation of upwelling fluxes in the northwestern region (off Oman and Somalia), overestimation in the northeastern region (Bay of Bengal) and underestimation of the CO2 sink in the subtropical convergence zone. These differences were mainly driven by lack of atmospheric CO2 data in atmospheric inversions, and poor simulation of monsoonal currents and freshwater discharge in ocean biogeochemical models. Overall, the models and inversions do capture the phase of the observed seasonality for the entire Indian Ocean but overestimate the magnitude. The predicted sea–air CO2 fluxes by ocean biogeochemical models (OBGMs) respond to seasonal variability with strong phase lags with reference to climatological CO2 flux, whereas the atmospheric inversions predicted an order of magnitude higher seasonal flux than OBGMs. The simulated interannual variability by the OBGMs is weaker than that found by atmospheric inversions. Prediction of such weak interannual variability in CO2 fluxes by atmospheric inversions was mainly caused by a lack of atmospheric data in the Indian Ocean. The OBGM models suggest a small strengthening of the sink over the period 1990–2009 of −0.01 PgC decade−1. This is inconsistent with the observations in the southwestern Indian Ocean that shows the growth rate of oceanic pCO2 was faster than the observed atmospheric CO2 growth, a finding attributed to the trend of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) during the 1990s.
  • Article
    Precision requirements for space-based XCO2 data
    (American Geophysical Union, 2007-05-26) Miller, C. E. ; Crisp, D. ; DeCola, P. L. ; Olsen, S. C. ; Randerson, James T. ; Michalak, Anna M. ; Alkhaled, A. ; Rayner, Peter ; Jacob, Daniel J. ; Suntharalingam, Parvadha ; Jones, D. B. A. ; Denning, A. S. ; Nicholls, M. E. ; Doney, Scott C. ; Pawson, S. ; Boesch, H. ; Connor, B. J. ; Fung, Inez Y. ; O'Brien, D. ; Salawitch, R. J. ; Sander, S. P. ; Sen, B. ; Tans, Pieter P. ; Toon, G. C. ; Wennberg, Paul O. ; Wofsy, Steven C. ; Yung, Y. L. ; Law, R. M.
    Precision requirements are determined for space-based column-averaged CO2 dry air mole fraction (XCO2) data. These requirements result from an assessment of spatial and temporal gradients in XCO2, the relationship between XCO2 precision and surface CO2 flux uncertainties inferred from inversions of the XCO2 data, and the effects of XCO2 biases on the fidelity of CO2 flux inversions. Observational system simulation experiments and synthesis inversion modeling demonstrate that the Orbiting Carbon Observatory mission design and sampling strategy provide the means to achieve these XCO2 data precision requirements.