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Atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements at Cape Matatula, American Samoa, 1976-1987
- Source :
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 94:14817-14829
- Publication Year :
- 1989
- Publisher :
- American Geophysical Union (AGU), 1989.
-
Abstract
- The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has operated a program to continuously monitor atmospheric CO2 at Cape Matatula, American Samoa, since January 1976. This paper describes the basic operational program and reports the data through 1987. Data sets are derived from hourly means which have been selected to represent baseline conditions. All hourly mean CO2 values (with flags indicating data selection status) are archived at NOAA's Geophysical Monitoring for Climatic Change (GMCC) laboratory in Boulder, Colorado; at the Carbon Dioxide Information and Analysis Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and in the microfiche version of this paper. The record from the in situ analyzer is compared with that of flask samples obtained in various ways. The overall 12-year record shows an average increase of 1.44 parts per million by volume per year. This increase amounts to 61% of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by fossil fuel combustion during this period. The record is also characterized by the lack of a prominent seasonal cycle. The CO2 concentrations for the first half of each year are always more variable than the second 6 months, when the wind flow is dominated by strong southeasterly trades. The interannual variability of the CO2 growth rate correlates very well with that observed at other GMCC sites.
- Subjects :
- Atmospheric Science
Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere
Ecology
Paleontology
Soil Science
Climate change
Forestry
Aquatic Science
Oceanography
Atmosphere
chemistry.chemical_compound
Geophysics
American samoa
chemistry
Space and Planetary Science
Geochemistry and Petrology
Climatology
Cape
Carbon dioxide
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Ridge (meteorology)
Environmental science
Seasonal cycle
Earth-Surface Processes
Water Science and Technology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 01480227
- Volume :
- 94
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........6fe512a345c1ca7cd000e6a823ae16f4