Total Column Carbon Observing Network: CO2 Variability and Implications for Global Modeling
Gretchen
Keppel-Aleks, California Institute of Technology, gka@gps.caltech.edu
(Presenting)
Paul
O.
Wennberg, California Institute of Technology, wennberg@gps.caltech.edu
Geoffrey
C.
Toon, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, geoffrey.c.toon@jpl.nasa.gov
The Total Column Carbon Observing Network (TCCON) is a growing network of ground-based high resolution Fourier Transform Spectrometer optimized to observe gases, including CO2, CO, CH4, N2O, HF, H2O, and O2, with transitions in the near-infrared (details at tccon.caltech.edu). We present 3.5 years of total column carbon dioxide data from the first dedicated TCCON site at Park Falls, Wisconsin (46 N, 90 W). This data set provides new information on the variability of mid-latitude CO2. During summer, total column CO2 above Park Falls varies by more than 5 ppm on sub-weekly timescales. We find that CO2 anomaly correlates with potential temperature anomaly, a dynamical signal related to synoptic scale weather. This variability is not captured in transport models or reanalysis products. We modify the AM2 GCM to probe potential sources of this discrepancy, and to evaluate the sensitivity of model output to changes in surface fluxes and transport parameterizations. Our data show that simulations of the synoptic-scale variability will be required to infer surface fluxes from satellite-observed total column gradients.
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