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Improved constraints on northern extratropical CO2 fluxes obtained by combining surface-based and space-based atmospheric CO2 measurements
  • +18
  • Brendan Keith Aidan Byrne,
  • Junjie Liu,
  • Meemong Lee,
  • Ian T. Baker,
  • Kevin W. Bowman,
  • Nicholas Michael Deutscher,
  • David W.T Griffith,
  • Laura T Iraci,
  • Matthaus Kiel,
  • John Kimball,
  • Charles E. Miller,
  • Isamu Morino,
  • Nicholas Cody Parazoo,
  • Christof Petri,
  • Coleen Marie Roehl,
  • Mahesh Sha,
  • Kimberly Strong,
  • Voltaire Almario Velazco,
  • Paul O. Wennberg,
  • Debra Wunch,
  • Dietrich G. Feist
Brendan Keith Aidan Byrne
Jet Propulsion Lab, Jet Propulsion Lab

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Junjie Liu
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Meemong Lee
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Ian T. Baker
Colorado State University, Colorado State University
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Kevin W. Bowman
Jet Propulsion Lab (NASA), Jet Propulsion Lab (NASA)
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Nicholas Michael Deutscher
University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong
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David W.T Griffith
University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong
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Laura T Iraci
NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Ames Research Center
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Matthaus Kiel
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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John Kimball
University of Montana, University of Montana
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Charles E. Miller
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Isamu Morino
National Institute for Environmental Studies, National Institute for Environmental Studies
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Nicholas Cody Parazoo
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Christof Petri
University of Bremen, University of Bremen
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Coleen Marie Roehl
California Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology
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Mahesh Sha
Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy
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Kimberly Strong
University of Toronto, University of Toronto
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Voltaire Almario Velazco
University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong
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Paul O. Wennberg
California Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology
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Debra Wunch
University of Toronto, University of Toronto
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Dietrich G. Feist
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
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Abstract

Top-down estimates of CO2 fluxes are typically constrained by either surface-based or space-based CO2 observations. Both of these measurement types have spatial and temporal gaps in observational coverage that can lead to biases in inferred fluxes. Assimilating both surface-based and space-based measurements concurrently in a flux inversion framework improves observational coverage and reduces sampling biases. This study examines the consistency of flux constraints provided by these different observations and the potential to combine them by performing a series of six-year (2010–2015) CO2 flux inversions. Flux inversions are performed assimilating surface-based measurements from the in situ and flask network, measurements from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), and space-based measurements from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT), or all three datasets combined. Combining the datasets results in more precise flux estimates for sub-continental regions relative to any of the datasets alone. Combining the datasets also improves the accuracy of the posterior fluxes, based on reduced root-mean-square differences between posterior-flux-simulated CO2 and aircraft-based CO2 over midlatitude regions (0.35–0.50~ppm) in comparison to GOSAT (0.39–0.57~ppm), TCCON (0.52–0.63~ppm), or in situ and flask measurements (0.45–0.53~ppm) alone. These results suggest that surface-based and GOSAT measurements give complementary constraints on CO2 fluxes in the northern extratropics and can be combined in flux inversions to improve observational coverage. This stands in contrast with many earlier attempts to combine these datasets and suggests that improvements in the NASA Atmospheric CO2 Observations from Space (ACOS) retrieval algorithm have significantly improved the consistency of space-based and surface-based flux constraints.
16 Aug 2020Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres volume 125 issue 15. 10.1029/2019JD032029