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    Air-sea CO2 exchange in the equatorial Pacific

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    2003JC002256.pdf (939.9Kb)
    Date
    2004-08-28
    Author
    McGillis, Wade R.  Concept link
    Edson, James B.  Concept link
    Zappa, Christopher J.  Concept link
    Ware, Jonathan D.  Concept link
    McKenna, Sean P.  Concept link
    Terray, Eugene A.  Concept link
    Hare, Jeffrey E.  Concept link
    Fairall, Christopher W.  Concept link
    Drennan, William M.  Concept link
    Donelan, Mark A.  Concept link
    DeGrandpre, Michael D.  Concept link
    Wanninkhof, Rik  Concept link
    Feely, Richard A.  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/3656
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JC002256
    DOI
    10.1029/2003JC002256
    Keyword
     Air-sea carbon dioxide fluxes; Equatorial Pacific; Direct covariance technique; Profile flux technique; Diurnal surface layer 
    Abstract
    GasEx-2001, a 15-day air-sea carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange study conducted in the equatorial Pacific, used a combination of ships, buoys, and drifters equipped with ocean and atmospheric sensors to assess variability and surface mechanisms controlling air-sea CO2 fluxes. Direct covariance and profile method air-sea CO2 fluxes were measured together with the surface ocean and marine boundary layer processes. The study took place in February 2001 near 125°W, 3°S in a region of high CO2. The diurnal variation in the air-sea CO2 difference was 2.5%, driven predominantly by temperature effects on surface solubility. The wind speed was 6.0 ± 1.3 m s−1, and the atmospheric boundary layer was unstable with conditions over the range −1 < z/L < 0. Diurnal heat fluxes generated daytime surface ocean stratification and subsequent large nighttime buoyancy fluxes. The average CO2 flux from the ocean to the atmosphere was determined to be 3.9 mol m−2 yr−1, with nighttime CO2 fluxes increasing by 40% over daytime values because of a strong nighttime increase in (vertical) convective velocities. The 15 days of air-sea flux measurements taken during GasEx-2001 demonstrate some of the systematic environmental trends of the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. The fact that other physical processes, in addition to wind, were observed to control the rate of CO2 transfer from the ocean to the atmosphere indicates that these processes need to be taken into account in local and global biogeochemical models. These local processes can vary on regional and global scales. The GasEx-2001 results show a weak wind dependence but a strong variability in processes governed by the diurnal heating cycle. This implies that any changes in the incident radiation, including atmospheric cloud dynamics, phytoplankton biomass, and surface ocean stratification may have significant feedbacks on the amount and variability of air-sea gas exchange. This is in sharp contrast with previous field studies of air-sea gas exchange, which showed that wind was the dominating forcing function. The results suggest that gas transfer parameterizations that rely solely on wind will be insufficient for regions with low to intermediate winds and strong insolation.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 109 (2004): C08S02, doi:10.1029/2003JC002256.
    Collections
    • Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering (AOP&E)
    Suggested Citation
    Journal of Geophysical Research 109 (2004): C08S02
     

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