Constraints from Ocean Biogeochemistry Models and Global Datasets on Air-sea Fluxes of Climate-active Trace Gases

Global-scale estimates of the ocean-atmosphere fluxes of many climatically important trace-gases are often calculated using surface ocean measurements of these species in combination with parameterizations of air-sea gas-exchange. These estimates are often limited by sparse observational coverage, and are insufficiently informed by the marine biogeochemical processes governing trace-gas cycling in the surface ocean. Analysis of global ocean biogeochemistry models in conjunction with relevant observational databases (for both the surface and interior ocean) can provide valuable constraints towards optimizing the key processes governing marine biogeochemical cycling of these trace-gases. We have previously illustrated this approach in recent analyses of the air-sea fluxes of nitrous-oxide (N₂O) and carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) (Buitenhuis et al. 2018, Suntharalingam et al. 2018). Here we extend this approach to derive new estimates of the ocean-atmosphere fluxes of methane (CH₄) and carbonyl sulfide (COS) using the NEMO-PlankTOM global ocean model.

REFERENCES

Buitenhuis, E. T., et al. (2018), “Constraints on global oceanic emissions of N₂O from observations and models”, Biogeosciences. 15, 7, p. 2161-2175. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2161-2018.

Suntharalingam, P., et al. (2018), “Evaluating Oceanic Uptake of Atmospheric CCl₄: A Combined Analysis of Model Simulations and Observations”, Geophysical Research Letters. 46, 1, p. 472-482. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080612