skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Strong regional atmospheric 14C signature of respired CO2 observed from a tall tower over the midwestern United States

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JG003271· OSTI ID:1338304
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [2]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  3. NOAA Earth Systems Research Lab., Boulder, CO (United States); Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
  5. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
  6. NOAA Earth Systems Research Lab., Boulder, CO (United States)
  7. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Univ. of Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands)
  8. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Ramboll Environ U.S. Corp., Novato, CA (United States)
  9. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Isotope Centre, Lower Hutt (New Zealand)
  10. Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Here, radiocarbon in CO2 (14CO2) measurements can aid in discriminating between fast (<1 year) and slower (>5–10 years) cycling of C between the atmosphere and the terrestrial biosphere due to the 14C disequilibrium between atmospheric and terrestrial C. However, 14CO2 in the atmosphere is typically much more strongly impacted by fossil fuel emissions of CO2, and, thus, observations often provide little additional constraints on respiratory flux estimates at regional scales. Here we describe a data set of 14CO2 observations from a tall tower in northern Wisconsin (USA) where fossil fuel influence is far enough removed that during the summer months, the biospheric component of the 14CO2 budget dominates. We find that the terrestrial biosphere is responsible for a significant contribution to 14CO2 that is 2–3 times higher than predicted by the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford approach terrestrial ecosystem model for observations made in 2010. This likely includes a substantial contribution from the North American boreal ecoregion, but transported biospheric emissions from outside the model domain cannot be ruled out. The 14CO2 enhancement also appears somewhat decreased in observations made over subsequent years, suggesting that 2010 may be anomalous. With these caveats acknowledged, we discuss the implications of the observation/model comparison in terms of possible systematic biases in the model versus short-term anomalies in the observations. Going forward, this isotopic signal could be exploited as an important indicator to better constrain both the long-term carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems and the short-term impact of disturbance-based loss of carbon to the atmosphere.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Sandia Internal; USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000; AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1338304
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1343024; OSTI ID: 1402240
Report Number(s):
SAND-2015-9875J; LLNL-JRNL-678969; 607986
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences, Vol. 121, Issue 8; ISSN 2169-8953
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (74)

Atmospheric Radiocarbon for the Period 1950–2010 journal January 2013
Soil carbon pools, plant biomarkers and mean carbon residence time after afforestation of grassland with three tree species journal June 2011
The Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART-WRF version 3.1 journal January 2013
Observational evidence for interhemispheric hydroxyl-radical parity journal September 2014
Constraints on emissions of carbon monoxide, methane, and a suite of hydrocarbons in the Colorado Front Range using observations of 14 CO 2 journal January 2013
Confronting terrestrial biosphere models with forest inventory data journal June 2014
Radiocarbon Dating for Determination of Soil Organic Matter Pool Sizes and Dynamics journal January 1997
Linking emissions of fossil fuel CO 2 and other anthropogenic trace gases using atmospheric 14 CO 2 : THE journal April 2012
Impulse response functions of terrestrial carbon cycle models: method and application journal April 1999
A new high precision 14 CO 2 time series for North American continental air journal January 2007
Evaluation of stratosphere–troposphere exchange and the hydroxyl radical distribution in three-dimensional global atmospheric models using observations of cosmogenic 14 CO journal January 2002
Mean residence time of O horizon carbon along a climatic gradient in Scandinavia estimated by 14C measurements of archived soils journal July 2010
Toward quantification and source sector identification of fossil fuel CO 2 emissions from an urban area: Results from the INFLUX experiment : INFLUX urban fossil fuel CO2 emissions journal January 2015
Changing sources of soil respiration with time since fire in a boreal forest journal June 2006
Comparison of soil organic matter dynamics at five temperate deciduous forests with physical fractionation and radiocarbon measurements journal May 2012
Atmospheric carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa Observatory: 2. Analysis of the NOAA GMCC data, 1974-1985 journal June 1989
Interannual variation in global-scale net primary production: Testing model estimates journal September 1997
A New Automated Extraction System for 14 C Measurement for Atmospheric Co 2 journal January 2010
Initial Results of an Intercomparison of AMS-Based Atmospheric 14 CO 2 Measurements journal January 2013
Implications for Deriving Regional Fossil Fuel CO 2 Estimates from Atmospheric Observations in a Hot Spot of Nuclear Power Plant 14 CO 2 Emissions journal January 2013
Global covariation of carbon turnover times with climate in terrestrial ecosystems journal September 2014
Influence of ENSO and the NAO on terrestrial carbon uptake in the Texas‐northern Mexico region journal August 2015
Implication of weekly and diurnal 14 C calibration on hourly estimates of CO-based fossil fuel CO 2 ata moderately polluted site in southwestern Germany journal January 2010
The use of radiocarbon to constrain current and future soil organic matter turnover and transport in a temperate forest journal March 2014
Chemical and mineral control of soil carbon turnover in abandoned tropical pastures journal January 2008
The Influence of Nutrient Availability on Soil Organic Matter Turnover Estimated by Incubations and Radiocarbon Modeling journal June 2005
On the use of 14 CO 2 as a tracer for fossil fuel CO 2 : Quantifying uncertainties using an atmospheric transport model journal January 2009
Biosphere-atmosphere gross carbon exchange flux and the δ 13 CO 2 and Δ 14 CO 2 disequilibria constrained by the biospheric excess radiocarbon inventory journal January 2009
Sources and transport of Δ 14 C in CO 2 within the Mexico City Basin and vicinity journal January 2009
Regional carbon dioxide fluxes from mixing ratio data journal September 2004
An atmospheric perspective on North American carbon dioxide exchange: CarbonTracker journal November 2007
Soil respiration in perennial grass and shrub ecosystems: Linking environmental controls with plant and microbial sources on seasonal and diel timescales: SOIL RESPIRATION IN GRASSES AND SHRUBS journal May 2008
Towards robust regional estimates of CO2 sources and sinks using atmospheric transport models journal February 2002
Mountain pine beetle and forest carbon feedback to climate change journal April 2008
Observation-based global biospheric excess radiocarbon inventory 1963–2005 journal January 2009
Biological and physical influences on soil 14 CO 2 seasonal dynamics in a temperate hardwood forest journal January 2013
Allocation of Terrestrial Carbon Sources Using 14 CO 2 : Methods, Measurement, and Modeling journal January 2013
Isotopic composition of carbon dioxide from a boreal forest fire: Inferring carbon loss from measurements and modeling: ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF CARBON DIOXIDE FROM A BOREAL FOREST FIRE journal January 2003
Evidence for interannual variability of the carbon cycle from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory Global Air Sampling Network journal January 1994
Substrate limitations for heterotrophs: Implications for models that estimate the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO 2 journal December 1996
Evaluation of seasonal atmosphere–biosphere exchange estimations with TCCON measurements journal January 2013
Seasonal variation of mass transport across the tropopause journal June 1996
Fire, climate change, carbon and fuel management in the Canadian boreal forest journal January 2001
Change in net primary production and heterotrophic respiration: How much is necessary to sustain the terrestrial carbon sink? journal December 1996
Observations of radiocarbon in CO 2 at seven global sampling sites in the Scripps flask network: Analysis of spatial gradients and seasonal cycles journal January 2012
Continental-scale enrichment of atmospheric 14 CO 2 from the nuclear power industry: potential impact on the estimation of fossil fuel-derived CO 2 journal January 2011
Observations of radiocarbon in CO 2 at La Jolla, California, USA 1992-2007: Analysis of the long-term trend journal January 2012
Where do fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions from California go? An analysis based on radiocarbon observations and an atmospheric transport model: FOSSIL FUEL CO journal October 2008
Causes of variation in soil carbon simulations from CMIP5 Earth system models and comparison with observations journal January 2013
Carbon monoxide: A quantitative tracer for fossil fuel CO 2 ? journal January 2006
Observations of 14 CO 2 in ecosystem respiration from a temperate deciduous forest in Northern Wisconsin : Δ14C of ecosystem respiration journal April 2015
Source-receptor matrix calculation with a Lagrangian particle dispersion model in backward mode journal January 2004
Warm spring reduced carbon cycle impact of the 2012 US summer drought journal April 2016
Evaluation of Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Models with Measurements from Controlled Tracer Releases journal December 2013
A time-split nonhydrostatic atmospheric model for weather research and forecasting applications journal March 2008
The Influence of Fire on the Radiocarbon Signature and Character of Soil Organic Matter in the Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon, USA journal August 2013
CO 2 , CO, and CH 4 measurements from tall towers in the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory's Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network: instrumentation, uncertainty analysis, and recommendations for future high-accuracy greenhouse gas monitoring efforts journal January 2014
Soil carbon cycling in a temperate forest: radiocarbon-based estimates of residence times, sequestration rates and partitioning of fluxes journal January 2000
The effect of vertically resolved soil biogeochemistry and alternate soil C and N models on C dynamics of CLM4 journal January 2013
Global net primary production: Combining ecology and remote sensing journal January 1995
Methods for High-Precision 14 C AMS Measurement of Atmospheric CO 2 at LLNL journal January 2007
The radiocarbon composition of tree rings as a tracer of local fossil fuel emissions in the Los Angeles basin: 1980-2008: TREE RING journal June 2012
Atmospheric Δ 14 CO 2 trend in Western European background air from 2000 to 2012 journal March 2013
Comparison of carbon dynamics in tropical and temperate soils using radiocarbon measurements journal June 1993
Regional patterns of radiocarbon and fossil fuel-derived CO 2 in surface air across North America journal January 2007
A novel approach for independent budgeting of fossil fuel CO 2 over Europe by 14 CO 2 observations : BUDGETING OF FOSSIL FUEL CO journal December 2003
Radiocarbon observations in atmospheric CO2: Determining fossil fuel CO2 over Europe using Jungfraujoch observations as background journal March 2008
Discussion Reporting of 14 C Data journal January 1977
Partitioning sources of soil respiration in boreal black spruce forest using radiocarbon journal February 2006
Technical note: The Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART version 6.2 journal January 2005
The imprint of surface fluxes and transport on variations in total column carbon dioxide journal January 2012
Interannual variability in global biomass burning emissions from 1997 to 2004 journal January 2006
Seasonal and latitudinal variability of troposphere Δ 14 CO 2 : Post bomb contributions from fossil fuels, oceans, the stratosphere, and the terrestrial biosphere : SEASONAL AND LATITUDINAL VARIABILITY OF TROPOSPHERE Δ journal December 2002
Global Fire Emissions Database, Version 3.1 collection January 2013

Similar Records

A Brief Review of the Application of 14C in Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Studies
Technical Report · Thu Oct 22 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · OSTI ID:1338304
Observations of 14CO2 in ecosystem respiration from a temperate deciduous forest in Northern Wisconsin
Journal Article · Tue Apr 14 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences · OSTI ID:1338304
+3 more
Where do fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions from California go? An analysis based on radiocarbon observations and an atmospheric transport model
Journal Article · Thu May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2008 · Journal of Geophysical Sciences Research-Biogeosciences · OSTI ID:1338304
+5 more

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES