Air‐sea gas transfer in high Arctic fjords

Summary, in English

In Arctic fjords and high‐latitude seas, strong surface cooling dominates during a large part of the year, generating water‐side convection (w* w) and enhanced turbulence in the water. These regions are key areas for the global carbon cycle; thus, a correct description of their air‐sea gas exchange is crucial. CO2 data were measured via the eddy covariance technique in marine Arctic conditions and reveal that water‐side convection has a major impact on the gas transfer velocity. This is observed even at wind speeds as high as 9 m s−1, where convective motions are generally thought to be suppressed by wind‐driven turbulence. The enhanced air‐sea transfer of CO2 caused by water‐side convection nearly doubled the CO2 uptake; after scaled to open‐sea conditions the contribution from w* w to the CO2 flux remained as high as 34%. This phenomenon is expected to be highly important for the total carbon uptake in marine Arctic areas.

• Author: Andreas Andersson; E. Falck; A Sjöblom; Natascha Kljun; E. Sahlee; A.M. Omar; A Rutgersson
• Publishing year: 2017-01-28
• Language: English
• Pages: 2519-2526
• Publication/Series: Geophysical Research Letters
• Volume: 44
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016GL072373
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
• Topic: Geophysics
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1944-8007