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Title: Strong Southern Ocean carbon uptake evident in airborne observations
The Southern Ocean plays an important role in determining atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), yet estimates of air-sea CO 2 flux for the region diverge widely. In this study, we constrained Southern Ocean air-sea CO 2 exchange by relating fluxes to horizontal and vertical CO 2 gradients in atmospheric transport models and applying atmospheric observations of these gradients to estimate fluxes. Aircraft-based measurements of the vertical atmospheric CO 2 gradient provide robust flux constraints. We found an annual mean flux of –0.53 ± 0.23 petagrams of carbon per year (net uptake) south of 45°S during the period 2009–2018. This is consistent with the mean of atmospheric inversion estimates and surface-ocean partial pressure of CO 2 ( P co 2 )–based products, but our data indicate stronger annual mean uptake than suggested by recent interpretations of profiling float observations.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1839218 1501993 1839220
PAR ID:
10349239
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more » ; ; ; « less
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Science
Volume:
374
Issue:
6572
ISSN:
0036-8075
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1275 to 1280
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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