Coccolithophores and the Merchant Fishing Corps Along Northern California Shores: Atmospheric Monitoring of DMS and CO at the Bodega Marine Lab
Abstract
Two major science steering documents have explicitly identified the importance of the coastal oceans in Earth systems science - the North American Carbon Plan and The Ocean Carbon & Climate Change implementation strategy, and both emphasize the need to augment current monitoring networks in these environments. The Northern California coast is a particularly interesting locale because of the intense upwelling induced there by strong northerly flow leeward of the Pacific High during the spring and summer. This upwelling system, and some four others like it around the globe, sustain the most ecologically bountiful regions in the marine biosphere, and collectively are responsible for almost half of the world's fish catch. There is also some concern about the response of these critically important ecosystems to global climate change. We are operating a continuous, high-rate CO instrument at the Bodega Marine Lab on the Northern California coast in order to better understand and quantify regional sources that may influence what is commonly considered to be the North American background atmosphere. Inspection of the high resolution CO time series reveals frequent spikes during onshore flow thought to represent ship plumes advecting past the sensor. Analysis of these data has rendered an estimate of the CO emissions from local ship traffic, while measurements of dissolved CO in the ocean permit an estimate of the natural emissions from coastal waters. Moreover, a pilot study measuring atmospheric dimethylsulfide (DMS) during July and August, 2005 indicates concentrations ranging from 30 to 1,300 pptv, confirming that this site is a unique one. We will show some of the main meteorological and sea state variables that control the emissions of these important biogeochemical species, and estimate their contribution to the total CO and aerosol sulfur loading in the coastal boundary layer, all the while emphasizing the unique importance of this monitoring station.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005AGUFM.A51E0137F
- Keywords:
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- 0300 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0312 Air/sea constituent fluxes (3339;
- 4504);
- 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions (0426;
- 1610);
- 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry