Air-sea carbon dioxide fluxes from coastal platforms

Several advances in shipboard micrometeorological techniques address the concerns related to oceanic applications [Edson et al. 1998]. Advances in atmospheric profiles and covariance methods have decreased the time scale for flux measurement to sub-hour; this is particularly true for the ocean-atmosphere direct covariance method for CO2 [Fairall et al. 2000; McGillis et al. 2001a], the profile method [Edson et al. 2004; Dacey et al. 1999; McGillis et al. 2001b]. Short time frame flux measurements permit the analysis of processes that regulate gas exchange and also increase statistical confidence in examining these relationships. Problematic issues for air-sea gas flux measurements by micrometeorological techniques include: (1) degradation of the measurements from motions of mobile platforms such as ships and aircraft, (2) errors from flow distortion around the measurement platform, and (3) inadequate gas sensor sensitivity and frequency response. In this presentation we demonstrate our recent advances in ocean carbon dynamics and measurements from stable coastal platforms.