Buoyancy flux, turbulence, and the gas transfer coefficient in a stratified lake

• Gas fluxes from lakes and other stratified water bodies, computed using conservative values of the gas transfer coefficient k600, have been shown to be a significant component of the carbon cycle. We present a mechanistic analysis of the dominant physical processes modifying k600 in a stratified lake and resulting new models of k600 whose use will enable improved computation of carbon fluxes. Using eddy covariance results, we demonstrate that i) higher values of k600 occur during low to moderate winds with surface cooling than with surface heating; ii) under overnight low wind conditions k600 depends on buoyancy flux β rather than wind speed; iii) the meteorological conditions at the time of measurement and the inertia within the lake determine k600; and iv) eddy covariance estimates of k600 compare well with predictions of k600 using a surface renewal model based on wind speed and β.

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