Oceanic and terrestrial biospheric CO2 uptake estimated from atmospheric potential oxygen observed at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, and Syowa, Antarctica

Abstract

Simultaneous measurements of the atmospheric O2/N2 ratio and CO2 concentration were made at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, and Syowa, Antarctica for the period 2001–2009. Based on these measurements, the observed atmospheric potential oxygen (APO) values were calculated. The APO variations produced by changes in the oceanic heat content were estimated using an atmospheric transport model and heat-driven air–sea O2 (N2) fluxes, and then subtracted from observed interannual variations of APO. The oceanic CO2 uptake derived from the resulting ‘corrected’ secular trend of APO showed interannual variability of less than ±0.6 GtC yr−1, significantly smaller than that derived from the ‘uncorrected’ trend of APO (±0.9 GtC yr−1). The average CO2 uptake during the period 2001–2009 was estimated to be 2.9±0.7 and 0.8±0.9 GtC yr−1 for the ocean and terrestrial biosphere, respectively. By excluding the influence of El Niño around 2002–2003, the terrestrial biospheric CO2 uptake for the period 2004–2009 increased to 1.5±0.9 GtC yr−1, while the oceanic uptake decreased slightly to 2.8±0.8 GtC yr−1.

Keywords

• atmospheric potential Oxygen (APO)
• air-sea O2 (N2) flux
• Oceanic CO2 uptake
• terrestrial biospheric CO2 uptake
• oceanic heat content
• atmospheric transport model