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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 108, NO. D17, 4556, doi:10.1029/2002JD002979, 2003

Global teleconnections of climate to terrestrial carbon flux

C. Potter

NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA


S. Klooster

Earth Systems Science and Policy Institute, California State University Monterey Bay, Seaside, California, USA


M. Steinbach

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA


P. Tan

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA


V. Kumar

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA


S. Shekhar

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA


R. Nemani

School of Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA


R. Myneni

Department of Geography, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA


Abstract

We have applied association analysis to 17 years of climate index observations and predicted net ecosystem production on land to infer short-term (monthly to yearly) teleconnections between atmosphere-ocean climate forcing and terrestrial carbon cycles. The analysis suggests that on a global level, climate indices can be significantly correlated to net ecosystem carbon fluxes over more than 58% of the nondesert/ice-covered land surface, commonly with a lead period of 2–6 months. The Southern Oscillation (SO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO) indices explain nearly equal portions of these significantly correlated area carbon fluxes. These significant teleconnections detected between surface climate and seasonal carbon gain or loss in terrestrial vegetation offer important capabilities for making inferences about the variability in the terrestrial carbon cycle of natural and agricultural ecosystems worldwide.

Received 24 September 2002; accepted 11 June 2003; published 12 September 2003.

Index Terms: 0315 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Biosphere/atmosphere interactions; 0322 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Constituent sources and sinks; 1615 Global Change: Biogeochemical processes (4805); 1620 Global Change: Climate dynamics (3309); 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing.

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Citation: Potter, C., S. Klooster, M. Steinbach, P. Tan, V. Kumar, S. Shekhar, R. Nemani, and R. Myneni (2003), Global teleconnections of climate to terrestrial carbon flux, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D17), 4556, doi:10.1029/2002JD002979.