ALBERT

Description: The response of atmospheric carbon dioxide to a given amount of surface flux is inversely proportional to the depth of the boundary layer. Overshooting thermals that entrain free tropospheric air down into the boundary layer modify the characteristics and depth of the lower layer through the insertion of energy and mass. This alters the surface energy budget by changing the Bowen ratio and thereby altering the vegetative response and the surface boundary conditions. Although overshooting thermals are important in the physical world, their effects are unresolved in most regional models. A parameterization to include the effects of boundary layer entrainment was introduced into a coupled ecosystem-atmosphere model (SiB-RAMS). The parameterization is based on a downward heat flux at the top of the boundary layer that is proportional to the heat flux at the surface. Results with the parameterization show that the boundary layer simulated is deeper, warmer, and drier than when the parameterization is turned off. These results alter the vegetative stress factors thereby changing the carbon flux from the surface. The combination of this and the deeper boundary layer change the concentration of carbon dioxide in the boundary layer.

Description: Synoptic variations of CO2 mixing ratio produced by interactions between weather and surface fluxes are investigated mechanistically and quantitatively in midlatitude and tropical regions using continuous in-situ CO2 observations in North America, South America and Europe and forward chemical transport model simulations with the Parameterized Chemistry Transport Model. Frontal CO2 climatologies show consistently strong, characteristic frontal CO2 signals throughout the midlatitudes of North America and Europe. Transitions between synoptically identifiable CO2 air masses or transient spikes along the frontal boundary typically characterize these signals. One case study of a summer cold front shows that CO2 gradients organize with deformational flow along weather fronts producing strong and spatially coherent variations. A boundary layer budget equation is constructed in order to determine contributions to boundary layer CO2 tendencies by horizontal and vertical advection, moist convection, and biological and anthropogenic surface fluxes. Analysis of this equation suggests that, in midlatitudes, advection is responsible for 50–90% of the amplitude of frontal variations in the summer, depending on upstream influences, and 50% of all day-to-day variations throughout the year. Simulations testing sensitivity to local cloud and surface fluxes further suggest that horizontal advection is a major source of CO2 variability in midlatitudes. In the tropics, coupling between convective transport and surface CO2 flux is most important. Due to the scarcity of tropical observations available at the time of this study, future work should extend such mechanistic analysis to additional tropical locations.

Description: In this work, the performance of the Framework for Atmosphere-Canopy Exchange Modelling (FACEM: Pieterse et al., 2007) coupled to a Lagrangian atmospheric transport model is evaluated for carbon dioxide. Before incorporating FACEM into the Lagrangian COMET model (Vermeulen et al., 2006), its performance for the European domain is compared with the Simple Biosphere model (SiB3: Sellers et al., 1996). Overall, FACEM is well correlated to SiB3 (R2≥0.60), but shows less variability for regions with predominantly bare soil. There is no significant overall bias between the models except for the winter conditions and in general for the Iberian peninsula. When coupled to the COMET transport model, both biosphere models yield similar correlations (R2≥0.60) and bias relative to the 1-hourly concentration measurements for the year 2002, performed at three different sites in Europe; Cabauw (Netherlands), Hegyhatsal (Hungary) and Mace Head (Ireland). The overall results indicate that FACEM is comparable to SiB3 in terms of its applicability for atmospheric modelling studies.

Description: Synoptic variations of atmospheric CO2 produced by interactions between weather and surface fluxes are investigated mechanistically and quantitatively in midlatitude and tropical regions using continuous in-situ CO2 observations in North America, South America and Europe and forward chemical transport model simulations with the Parameterized Chemistry Transport Model. Frontal CO2 climatologies show consistently strong, characteristic frontal CO2 signals throughout the midlatitudes of North America and Europe. Transitions between synoptically identifiable CO2 air masses or transient spikes along the frontal boundary typically characterize these signals. One case study of a summer cold front shows CO2 gradients organizing with deformational flow along weather fronts, producing strong and spatially coherent variations. In order to differentiate physical and biological controls on synoptic variations in midlatitudes and a site in Amazonia, a boundary layer budget equation is constructed to break down boundary layer CO2 tendencies into components driven by advection, moist convection, and surface fluxes. This analysis suggests that, in midlatitudes, advection is dominant throughout the year and responsible for 60–70% of day-to-day variations on average, with moist convection contributing less than 5%. At a site in Amazonia, vertical mixing, in particular coupling between convective transport and surface CO2 flux, is most important, with advection responsible for 26% of variations, moist convection 32% and surface flux 42%. Transport model sensitivity experiments agree with budget analysis. These results imply the existence of a recharge-discharge mechanism in Amazonia important for controlling synoptic variations of boundary layer CO2, and that forward and inverse simulations should take care to represent moist convective transport. Due to the scarcity of tropical observations at the time of this study, results in Amazonia are not generalized for the tropics, and future work should extend analysis to additional tropical locations.

Description: Investigations into the physical characteristics of deep firn near the lock-in zone through pore close-off are needed to improve understanding of ice core records of past atmospheric concentrations. Specifically, the permeability and microstructure profiles of the firn through the diffusive column influence the entrapment of air into bubbles and thus the ice age-gas age difference. The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of pore closure processes at two polar sites with very different local temperatures and accumulation rates. Density, permeability, and microstructure measurements were made on firn cores from WAIS Divide in West Antarctica and Megadunes in East Antarctica. We found that the open pore structure plays a more important role than density in predicting gas transport properties, through the porous firn matrix. For both WAIS Divide and Megadunes, fine grained layers experience close-off shallower in the firn column than do coarse grained layers, regardless of which grain sized layer is the more dense layer at depth. Pore close-off occurs at an open porosity that is accumulation rate dependent. Low accumulation sites, with coarse grains, close-off at lower open porosities (〈 10%) than the open porosity (〉 10%) of high accumulation sites with finer grains. The depth and length of the lock-in zone is primarily dependent upon accumulation rate and microstructural variability due to differences in grain size and pore structure, rather than the density variability of the layers.

Description: Typically, gas transport through firn is modeled in the context of an idealized firn column. However, in natural firn, imperfections are present, which can alter transport dynamics and therefore reduce the accuracy of reconstructed climate records. For example, ice layers have been found in several firn cores collected in the polar regions. Here, we examined the effects of two ice layers found in a NEEM, Greenland firn core on gas transport through the firn. These ice layers were found to have permeability values of 3.0 and 4.0 × 10−10 m2, and are therefore not impermeable layers. However, the shallower ice layer was found to be significantly less permeable than the surrounding firn, and can therefore retard gas transport. Large closed bubbles were found in the deeper ice layer, which will have an altered gas composition than that expected because they were closed near the surface after the water phase was present. The bubbles in this layer represent 12% of the expected closed porosity of this firn layer after the firn-ice transition depth is reached, and will therefore bias the future ice core gas record. The permeability and thickness of the ice layers at the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) site suggest that they do not disrupt the firn-air concentration profiles and that they do not need to be accounted for in gas transport models at NEEM.

Description: Investigations into the physical characteristics of deep firn near the lock-in zone through pore close-off are needed to improve understanding of ice core records of past atmospheric composition. Specifically, the permeability and microstructure profiles of the firn through the diffusive column influence the entrapment of air into bubbles and thus the ice age–gas age difference. The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of pore closure processes at two polar sites with very different local temperatures and accumulation rates. Density, permeability, and microstructure measurements were made on firn cores from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide, a site that has moderate accumulation rates with a seasonal climate archive, and Megadunes in East Antarctica, a site that is a natural laboratory for accumulation rate effects in the cold low-accumulation desert. We found that the open pore structure plays a more important role than density in predicting gas transport properties, throughout the porous firn matrix. For firn below 50 m depth at both WAIS Divide and Megadunes, finer-grained layers experience close-off shallower in the firn column than do coarser-grained layers, regardless of which grain size layer is the denser layer at depth. Pore close-off occurs at a critical open porosity that is accumulation rate dependent. Defining pore close-off at a critical open porosity for a given accumulation rate as opposed to a critical total porosity accounts for the pore space available for gas transport. Below the critical open porosity, the firn becomes impermeable despite having small amounts of interconnected pore space. The low-accumulation sites, with generally coarse grains, close off at lower open porosities (~10%) of high-accumulation sites that have generally finer grains. The microstructure and permeability even near the bottom of the firn column are relic indicators of the nature of accumulation when that firn was at the surface. The physical structure and layering are the primary controlling factors on pore close-off. In contrast to current assumptions for polar firn, the depth and length of the lock-in zone is primarily dependent upon accumulation rate and microstructural variability due to differences in grain size and pore structure, rather than the density variability of the layers.

Description: Typically, gas transport through firn is modeled in the context of an idealized firn column. However, in natural firn, imperfections are present which may alter transport dynamics in ways that may reduce the accuracy of climate records. For example, ice layers have been found in several firn cores collected in the polar regions. Here, we examined the effects of two ice layers found in a NEEM, Greenland firn core on gas transport through the firn. Both ice layers were somewhat permeable. However, only the shallower ice layer was significantly less permeable than the surrounding firn and is therefore likely to retard gas transport. Large closed bubbles were found in one ice layer, which would contain older atmospheric samples than expected. Theses bubbles are likely to significantly bias age estimates. Conversely, the permeability and thickness of ice layers at NEEM suggest that they will not significantly bias the expected firn air concentration profiles at the present spatial resolution at which these data are collected. Therefore, ice layers do not need to be accounted for in gas transport models at NEEM. However, the microstructure of these ice layers indicates that larger melting events could significantly bias ice core records.

Description: Croplands are man-made ecosystems that have high net primary productivity during the growing season of crops, thus impacting carbon and other exchanges with the atmosphere. These exchanges play a~major role in nutrient cycling and climate change related issues. An accurate representation of crop phenology and physiology is important in land-atmosphere carbon models being used to predict these exchanges. To better estimate time-varying exchanges of carbon, water, and energy of croplands using the Simple Biosphere (SiB) model, we developed crop-specific phenology models and coupled them to SiB. The coupled SiB-phenology model (SiBcrop) replaces remotely-sensed NDVI information, on which SiB originally relied for deriving Leaf Area Index (LAI) and the fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fPAR) for estimating carbon dynamics. The use of the new phenology scheme within SiB substantially improved the prediction of LAI and carbon fluxes for maize, soybean, and wheat crops, as compared with the observed data at several AmeriFlux eddy covariance flux tower sites in the US mid continent region. SiBcrop better predicted the onset and end of the growing season, harvest, interannual variability associated with crop rotation, day time carbon uptake (especially for maize) and day to day variability in carbon exchange. Biomass predicted by SiBcrop had good agreement with the observed biomass at field sites. In the future, we will predict fine resolution regional scale carbon and other exchanges by coupling SiBcrop with RAMS (the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System).

Description: Climate change is leading to a disproportionately large warming in the high northern latitudes, but the magnitude and sign of the future carbon balance of the Arctic are highly uncertain. Using 40 terrestrial biosphere models for Alaska, we provide a baseline of terrestrial carbon cycle structural and parametric uncertainty, defined as the multi-model standard deviation (σ) against the mean (x) for each quantity. Mean annual uncertainty (σ/x) was largest for net ecosystem exchange (NEE) (−0.01± 0.19 kg C m−2 yr−1), then net primary production (NPP) (0.14 ± 0.33 kg C m−2 yr−1), autotrophic respiration (Ra) (0.09 ± 0.20 kg C m−2 yr−1), gross primary production (GPP) (0.22 ± 0.50 kg C m−2 yr−1), ecosystem respiration (Re) (0.23 ± 0.38 kg C m−2 yr−1), CH4 flux (2.52 ± 4.02 g CH4 m−2 yr−1), heterotrophic respiration (Rh) (0.14 ± 0.20 kg C m−2 yr−1), and soil carbon (14.0± 9.2 kg C m−2). The spatial patterns in regional carbon stocks and fluxes varied widely with some models showing NEE for Alaska as a strong carbon sink, others as a strong carbon source, while still others as carbon neutral. Additionally, a feedback (i.e., sensitivity) analysis was conducted of 20th century NEE to CO2 fertilization (β) and climate (γ), which showed that uncertainty in γ was 2x larger than that of β, with neither indicating that the Alaskan Arctic is shifting towards a certain net carbon sink or source. Finally, AmeriFlux data are used at two sites in the Alaskan Arctic to evaluate the regional patterns; observed seasonal NEE was captured within multi-model uncertainty. This assessment of carbon cycle uncertainties may be used as a baseline for the improvement of experimental and modeling activities, as well as a reference for future trajectories in carbon cycling with climate change in the Alaskan Arctic.