Progress in Understanding Biophysical and Biochemical Controls on Biosphere–Atmosphere Exchange of CO2.

In a series of classical papers published between 1983 and 1990 Inez Fung and co-workers established the current paradigm for interpretation of the carbon cycle from the perspective of the atmospheric CO₂ concentration. These studies established: a) the importance of large-scale atmospheric circulation in meridional transport of CO₂ explaining the non-intuitive linkage between surface sources and sinks of CO₂ and its concentration in the atmosphere; b) pioneered the use of satellite measurements and weather data to develop a spatially resolved synoptic view of biospheric activity; c) included air-sea exchange CO₂ based on ship board measurements of the pCO₂ of the surface ocean, and d) included the anthropogenic fluxes of CO₂ associated with land-use change and fossil fuel use in a global model. These papers set a very high bar for follow-on studies of this critical part of the Earth System. A great deal of work has been conducted in the following decades leading to the emergence of Carbon Cycle Science as a mature discipline. In this talk I will review some of this work and present new work on the use of remote sensing in modeling of terrestrial photosynthesis at regional and global scales.