Global air-sea surface carbon dioxide transfer velocity and flux estimated using 17 a altimeter data and a new algorithm

• Published in: Acta oceanologica Sinica 2013-10, Vol.32 (10), p.24-33
• Main Authors: Yu, Tan, He, Yijun, Yan, Xiaohai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air; Algorithms; Altimeters; Altimetry; Carbon dioxide; Chlorophyll; Climate change; Climate studies; Climatology; CO2通量; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Environmental Chemistry; Estimation; Fluctuations; Fluxes; Gas exchange; Marine; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Mathematical analysis; Ocean circulation; Oceanography; Oceans; Partial pressure; Remote sensing; Schmidt; Schmidt number; Sea surface; TOPEX; Velocity; Wind; Wind speed; 二氧化碳; 传输速度; 数据估算; 检索算法; 海气; 高度计
• ISSN: 0253-505X; 1869-1099
• DOI: 10.1007/s13131-013-0362-9

The global distributions of the air-sea CO2 transfer velocity and flux are retrieved from TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason altimeter data from October 1992 to December 2009 using a combined algorithm. The 17 a average global, area-weighted, Schmidt number-corrected mean gas transfer velocity is 21.26 cm/h, and the full exploration of the uncertainty of this estimate awaits further data. The average total CO2 flux （calculated by carbon） from atmosphere to ocean during the 17 a was 2.58 Pg/a. The highest transfer velocity is in the circumpolar current area, because of constant high wind speeds and currents there. This results in strong CO2 fluxes. CO2 fluxes are strong but opposite direction in the equatorial east Pacific Ocean, because the air-sea CO2 partial pressure difference is the largest in the global cceans. The results differ from the previous studies calculated using the wind speed. It is demonstrated that the air-sea transfer velocity is very important for estimating air-sea CO2 flux. It is critical to have an accurate estimation for improving calculation of CO2 flux within climate change studies.