Comparison of Regional Carbon Dioxide Fluxes from Atmospheric Inversions and Inventories in the Mid-Continent Intensive
Stephen
Ogle, Colorado State University, ogle@nrel.colostate.edu
(Presenting)
Dan
Cooley, Colorado State University, cooleyd@stat.colostate.edu
Andrew
Schuh, Colorado State University, aschuh@atmos.colostate.edu
F
Jay
Breidt, Colorado State University, jbreidt@stat.colostate.edu
Ken
Davis, Pennsylvania State University, davis@met.psu.edu
Tristram
West, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, westto@ornl.gov
Thomas
Lauvaux, Pennsylvania State University, tul5@psu.edu
Linda
Heath, US Forest Service, lheath@fs.fed.us
Kevin
Gurney, Purdue University, kgurney@purdue.edu
Arlyn
Andrews, NOAA, arlyn.andrews@noaa.gov
Scott
Denning, Colorado State University, denning@atmos.colostate.edu
Atmospheric inversions and inventories represent two lines of evidence on a regional carbon budget. Inversions rely on repeated CO2 concentration measurements to infer fluxes between the terrestrial surface and atmosphere. Inventories are typically conducted using models to predict changes in C pools, or CO2 fluxes directly, based on various driving variables influencing uptake and release of CO2 from the terrestrial surface. Both of the approaches have their strengths and weaknesses, and one of the key objectives of the Mid-Continent Intensive (MCI) for the North American Carbon Program (NACP) is to reconcile differences in estimates between these approaches, to the extent possible. An exploratory approach has been undertaken to compare inventory and inversions using graphical tools and a regression analysis where the differences between the inventories and inversions are regressed against both inventory estimates and land-use characteristics. Results from a pre-campaign time period (2000-05) suggest limited agreement between the inversions and inventory results that is presumably due to a lack of atmospheric observations in the MCI region. However, sampling density is much greater during the campaign years (2007-08), and inventory and inversion data are likely more comparable given the improved observational constraint on the inversions. Comparisons between the inventory and prior estimates for the atmospheric inversions are more similar than the pre-campaign data, which also suggest that there will be closer agreement. Overall, this synthesis activity is improving diagnosis of regional carbon fluxes, which is a key objective of the NACP.
Presentation Type: Poster
Poster Session: Carbon Cycle Science
NASA TE Funded Awards Represented:
Ogle, Stephen
Resolving Net CO2 Exchange in the Mid-Continent Region of North America by Comparing and Reconciling Results from Inverse Modeling and Inventory-Based Approaches