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Title: Atmospheric inversion of the surface carbon flux with consideration of the spatial distributions of US crop production and consumption

Abstract

In order to improve quantification of the spatial distribution of carbon sinks and sources in the conterminous USA, we conduct a nested global atmospheric inversion with consideration of the spatial information of crop production and consumption. Spatially distributed 5 county-level cropland net primary productivity, harvested biomass, soil carbon change, and human and livestock consumption data over the conterminous USA are used for this purpose. Time-dependent Bayesian synthesis inversions are conducted based on CO₂ observations at 210 stations to infer CO₂ fluxes globally at monthly time steps with a nested focus on 30 regions in North America. Prior land surface carbon 10 fluxes are first generated using a biospheric model, and the inversions are constrained using prior fluxes with and without adjustments for crop production and consumption over the 2002–2007 period. After these adjustments, the inverted regional carbon sink in the US Midwest increases from 0.25 ± 0.03 Pg C yr⁻¹ to 0.42 ± 0.13 Pg C yr⁻¹, whereas the large sink in the US Southeast forest region is weakened from 0.41±0.12 Pg C yr⁻¹ 15 to 0.29 ±0.12 Pg C yr⁻¹. These adjustments also reduce the inverted sink in the West region from 0.066 ± 0.04 Pg C yr⁻¹ tomore » 0.040 ± 0.02 Pg C yr⁻1 because of high crop consumption and respiration by humans and livestock. The general pattern of sink increase in crop production areas and sink decreases (or source increases) in crop consumption areas highlights the importance of considering the lateral carbon transfer in crop 20 products in atmospheric inverse modeling, which provides an atmospheric perspective of the overall carbon balance of a region.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1184905
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-102406
KP1703030
DOE Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Biogeosciences, 12(2):323-343
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Biogeosciences, 12(2):323-343
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
carbon flux; agriculture carbon stocks

Citation Formats

Chen, J. M., Fung, J. W., Mo, G., Deng, F., and West, Tristram O. Atmospheric inversion of the surface carbon flux with consideration of the spatial distributions of US crop production and consumption. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.5194/bg-12-323-2015.
Chen, J. M., Fung, J. W., Mo, G., Deng, F., & West, Tristram O. Atmospheric inversion of the surface carbon flux with consideration of the spatial distributions of US crop production and consumption. United States. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-323-2015
Chen, J. M., Fung, J. W., Mo, G., Deng, F., and West, Tristram O. 2015. "Atmospheric inversion of the surface carbon flux with consideration of the spatial distributions of US crop production and consumption". United States. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-323-2015.
@article{osti_1184905,
title = {Atmospheric inversion of the surface carbon flux with consideration of the spatial distributions of US crop production and consumption},
author = {Chen, J. M. and Fung, J. W. and Mo, G. and Deng, F. and West, Tristram O.},
abstractNote = {In order to improve quantification of the spatial distribution of carbon sinks and sources in the conterminous USA, we conduct a nested global atmospheric inversion with consideration of the spatial information of crop production and consumption. Spatially distributed 5 county-level cropland net primary productivity, harvested biomass, soil carbon change, and human and livestock consumption data over the conterminous USA are used for this purpose. Time-dependent Bayesian synthesis inversions are conducted based on CO₂ observations at 210 stations to infer CO₂ fluxes globally at monthly time steps with a nested focus on 30 regions in North America. Prior land surface carbon 10 fluxes are first generated using a biospheric model, and the inversions are constrained using prior fluxes with and without adjustments for crop production and consumption over the 2002–2007 period. After these adjustments, the inverted regional carbon sink in the US Midwest increases from 0.25 ± 0.03 Pg C yr⁻¹ to 0.42 ± 0.13 Pg C yr⁻¹, whereas the large sink in the US Southeast forest region is weakened from 0.41±0.12 Pg C yr⁻¹ 15 to 0.29 ±0.12 Pg C yr⁻¹. These adjustments also reduce the inverted sink in the West region from 0.066 ± 0.04 Pg C yr⁻¹ to 0.040 ± 0.02 Pg C yr⁻1 because of high crop consumption and respiration by humans and livestock. The general pattern of sink increase in crop production areas and sink decreases (or source increases) in crop consumption areas highlights the importance of considering the lateral carbon transfer in crop 20 products in atmospheric inverse modeling, which provides an atmospheric perspective of the overall carbon balance of a region.},
doi = {10.5194/bg-12-323-2015},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1184905}, journal = {Biogeosciences, 12(2):323-343},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}

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