Atmospheric Constraints on Carbon Exchange Processes from CO2 Inversions
Abstract
An improved understanding of the biological and biophysical controls on carbon exchange processes is crucial for understanding carbon-climate interactions. We present the results of a relatively new approach to using atmospheric CO2 data to constrain parameters of carbon exchange processes. CO2 concentration data collected at remote monitoring stations of the NOAA-CMDL network are combined with a biosphere model and an atmospheric transport model to perform a Bayesian synthesis inversion. Rather than inferring regional-to-continental-scale net carbon fluxes as is typically done, we solve for the light-use efficiency (LUE) of net photosynthesis for broad ecosystem types (e.g. boreal biomes). We further constrain the inversion with local-scale measurements from eddy flux sites (FLUXNET) representative of the broad ecosystem types. Preliminary results suggest higher growing-season mean LUE values for Eurasian boreal regions than North American boreal regions. Also, temperate regions are inferred to have generally higher LUE values than boreal regions. We will discuss the realism of the inversion results, some possible reasons for the apparent longitudinal and latitudinal asymmetries, and their implications for our understanding of the carbon cycle.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2001
- Bibcode:
- 2001AGUFM.B22C0160S
- Keywords:
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- 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions;
- 1615 Biogeochemical processes (4805);
- 1851 Plant ecology;
- 3337 Numerical modeling and data assimilation