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www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/6/6801/2006/
doi:10.5194/acpd-6-6801-2006
© Author(s) 2006. This work is licensed
under a Creative Commons License.
Comparison of CO2 fluxes estimated using atmospheric and oceanic inversions, and role of fluxes and their interannual variability in simulating atmospheric CO2 concentrations
1Frontier Research Center for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Sciences and Tecnology, Yokohama 236 0001, Japan
2Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University, Sayre Hall, Forrestal Campus, P.O. Box CN0710, Princeton, NJ, 08544-0710, USA
3Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan
4Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Studies, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
Abstract. We use a time-dependent inverse (TDI) model to estimate regional sources and sinks of atmospheric CO2 from 64 and then 22 regions based on atmospheric CO2 observations at 87 stations. The air-sea fluxes from the 64-region atmospheric-CO2 inversion are compared with fluxes from an analogous ocean inversion that uses ocean interior observations of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and other tracers and an ocean general circulation model (OGCM). We find that, unlike previous atmospheric inversions, our flux estimates in the southern hemisphere are generally in good agreement with the results from the ocean inversion, which gives us added confidence in our flux estimates. In addition, a forward tracer transport model (TTM) is used to simulate the observed CO2 concentrations using (1) estimates of fossil fuel emissions and a priori estimates of the terrestrial and oceanic fluxes of CO2, and (2) two sets of TDI model corrected fluxes. The TTM simulations of TDI model corrected fluxes show improvements in fitting the observed interannual variability in growth rates and seasonal cycles in atmospheric CO2. Our analysis suggests that the use of interannually varying (IAV) meteorology and a larger observational network have helped to capture the regional representation and interannual variabilities in CO2 fluxes realistically.
Discussion Paper (PDF, 1691 KB) Interactive Discussion (Closed, 6 Comments) Publication in ACP not foreseen
Citation: Patra, P. K., Mikaloff Fletcher, S. E., Ishijima, K., Maksyutov, S., and Nakazawa, T.: Comparison of CO2 fluxes estimated using atmospheric and oceanic inversions, and role of fluxes and their interannual variability in simulating atmospheric CO2 concentrations, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 6, 6801-6823, doi:10.5194/acpd-6-6801-2006, 2006. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
