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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 113,
G01023,
doi:10.1029/2007JG000435,
2008
An estimate of monthly global emissions of anthropogenic CO2: Impact on the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO2
D. J. Erickson III
Computational Earth Sciences Group, Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
USA Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
R. T. Mills
Computational Earth Sciences Group, Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
USA
J. Gregg
Geography Department, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
T. J. Blasing
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
F. M. Hoffman
Computational Earth Sciences Group, Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
USA
R. J. Andres
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
M. Devries
Computational Earth Sciences Group, Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
USA School of Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Z. Zhu
Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
S. R. Kawa
Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Abstract
Monthly estimates of the global emissions of anthropogenic CO2 are presented. Approximating the seasonal CO2 emission cycle using a 2-harmonic Fourier series with coefficients as a function of latitude, the annual fluxes are decomposed
into monthly flux estimates based on data for the United States and applied globally. These monthly anthropogenic CO2 flux estimates are then used to model atmospheric CO2 concentrations using meteorological fields from the NASA GEOS-4 data assimilation system. We find that the use of monthly
resolved fluxes makes a significant difference in the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO2 in and near those regions where anthropogenic CO2 is released to the atmosphere. Local variations of 2–6 ppmv CO2 in the seasonal cycle amplitude are simulated; larger variations would be expected if smaller source-receptor distances could
be more precisely specified using a more refined spatial resolution. We also find that in the midlatitudes near the sources,
synoptic scale atmospheric circulations are important in the winter and that boundary layer venting and diurnal rectifier
effects are more important in the summer. These findings have implications for inverse-modeling efforts that attempt to estimate
surface source/sink regions especially when the surface sinks are colocated with regions of strong anthropogenic CO2 emissions.
Received 27
February
2007;
accepted 4
December
2007;
published 15
March
2008.
Keywords: carbon cycle;
atmospheric transport.
Index Terms: 0428 Biogeosciences: Carbon cycling (4806); 0478 Biogeosciences: Pollution: urban, regional and global (0345, 4251); 1626 Global Change: Global climate models (3337, 4928); 1622 Global Change: Earth system modeling (1225); 1610 Global Change: Atmosphere (0315, 0325).
Subscriber Access to Full Article (Nonsubscribers may purchase for $9.00, Includes print PDF, file size: 2079375 bytes)
Citation: Erickson, D. J., III, R. T. Mills, J. Gregg, T. J. Blasing, F. M. Hoffman, R. J. Andres, M. Devries, Z. Zhu, and S. R. Kawa
(2008),
An estimate of monthly global emissions of anthropogenic CO2: Impact on the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO2,
J. Geophys. Res.,
113,
G01023,
doi:10.1029/2007JG000435.
Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.
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