Toward a statistical description of methane emissions from arctic wetlands

Methane (CH4) emissions from arctic tundra typically follow relations with soil temperature and water table depth, but these process-based descriptions can be difficult to apply to areas where no measurements exist. We formulated a description of the broader temporal flux pattern in the growing seas...

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Main Authors: Pirk, Norbert, Mastepanov, Mikhail, López-Blanco, Efrén, Christensen, Louise H, Christiansen, Hanne H, Hansen, Birger Ulf, Lund, Magnus, Parmentier, Frans-Jan W, Skov, Kirstine, Christensen, Torben R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Emission
Methane
Tundra
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Summary:Methane (CH4) emissions from arctic tundra typically follow relations with soil temperature and water table depth, but these process-based descriptions can be difficult to apply to areas where no measurements exist. We formulated a description of the broader temporal flux pattern in the growing season based on two distinct CH4 source components from slow and fast-turnover carbon. We used automatic closed chamber flux measurements from NE Greenland (74°N), W Greenland (64°N), and Svalbard (78°N) to identify and discuss these components. The temporal separation was well-suited in NE Greenland, where the hypothesized slow-turnover carbon peaked at a time significantly related to the timing of snowmelt. The temporally wider component from fast-turnover carbon dominated the emissions in W Greenland and Svalbard. Altogether, we found no dependence of the total seasonal CH4 budget to the timing of snowmelt, and warmer sites and years tended to yield higher CH4 emissions.