Tropical Mid-Tropospheric CO2 Variability driven by the Madden-Julian Oscillation
Abstract
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas in the present-day climate. Most of the community focuses on its long-term (decadal to centennial) behaviors that are relevant to climate change, but there are relatively few discussions of its higher-frequency forms of variability, and none regarding its subseasonal distribution. In this work, we report a large-scale intraseasonal variation in the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) CO2 data in the global tropical region associated with the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). The peak-to-peak amplitude of the composite MJO modulation is ~ 1 ppmv, with a standard error of the composite mean < 0.1 ppmv. The correlation structure between CO2 and rainfall and vertical velocity indicate positve (negative) anomalies in CO2 arise due to upward (downward) large-scale vertical motions in the lower troposphere associated with the MJO. These findings can help elucidate how faster processes can organize, transport and mix CO2 and provide a robustness test for coupled carbon-climate models.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFM.A54D..01L
- Keywords:
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- 3314 ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES / Convective processes;
- 3360 ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES / Remote sensing