Evaluating the effect of precipitation on air-sea CO2 exchange using eddy covariance measurements

• The air-sea exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) is modulated by processes controlling the physical and biogeochemical characteristics of the upper layer of the ocean. One such process is precipitation, which is known to alter the surface layer of the ocean via rain-induced turbulence, deposition of dissolved CO2, and through changes of the temperature, salinity, and chemical composition of the surface waters (i.e. dilution effects). Even though great advances have been made in the understanding of these mechanisms, and their impact on the regional and global air-sea CO2 fluxes from laboratory experiments and numerical models, the effect of rain and other types of precipitation has seldom been studied using field data. In this study, we use eddy covariance based  measurements of air-sea CO2 flux along with in-situ precipitation data from the Östergarnsholm station in the central Baltic Sea, to evaluate the effect of precipitation on the gas exchange. The results show that most types of precipitation enhance the CO2 transport when the flux is positive, i.e. from the ocean to the atmosphere, in particular during high wind-speed conditions. Negative fluxes, on the other hand, are less affected by precipitation. Snow, and mixed precipitation of rain with snow, induce the greatest increase on the exchange rate, while smaller droplets like drizzle cause smaller enhancement. According to the results presented here, not only the impact of rain, but all types of precipitation, should be accounted for in the air-sea CO2 flux estimates, even in regions where precipitation rates are low. At high latitudes, accounting for these effects, in particular the effect of snow and other solid types of precipitations, might be essential to constrain regional CO2 flux estimates. 

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Meteorologi och atmosfärforskning (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Air-sea CO2 flux

precipitation

eddy covariance

gas transfer velocity

Meteorologi

Meteorology

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