Preliminary Satellite-Derived Estimates of the Gas Transfer Velocity
Gary
A
Wick, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, gary.a.wick@noaa.gov
(Presenting)
Darren
L
Jackson, CIRES, University of Colorado, darren.l.jackson@noaa.gov
Global estimates of the flux of CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere are necessary to ultimately determine the uptake of CO2 by the world’s oceans. The ability to retrieve air-sea gas fluxes using satellite methods is limited, however, due to difficulties in parameterizing the gas/chemical transfer processes and in determining the needed inputs from satellite measurements. As a first step towards evaluating satellite-based techniques for computing the gas transfer velocity, the physically-based COARE gas transfer parameterization has been implemented for application with satellite-derived inputs. Initial global estimates of the gas transfer velocity using this approach will be presented and compared with simplified methods based solely on the wind speed. The satellite products will also be compared against direct measurements of the CO2 transfer velocity from the first two GASEX cruises.
NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Active Awards Represented by this Poster: