Interannual variations in the Δ(17O) signature of atmospheric CO2 at two mid-latitude sites suggest a close link to stratosphere–troposphere exchange

Pharahilda M. Steur*, Hubertus A. Scheeren, Gerbrand Koren, Getachew A. Adnew, Wouter Peters, Harro A.J. Meijer

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Δ(17O) measurements of atmospheric CO2 have the potential to be a tracer for gross primary production and stratosphere–troposphere mixing. A positive Δ(17O) originates from intrusions of stratospheric CO2, whereas values close to −0.21 ‰ result from the equilibration of CO2 and water, which predominantly happens inside plants. The stratospheric source of CO2 with high Δ(17O) is, however, not well defined in the current models. More, and long-term, atmospheric measurements are needed to improve this. We present records of the Δ(17O) of atmospheric CO2 obtained with laser absorption spectroscopy from Lutjewad in the Netherlands (53°24′ N, 6°21′ E) and Mace Head in Ireland (53°20′ N, 9°54′ W) that cover the period 2017–2022. The records are compared with a 3-D model simulation, and we study potential model improvements. Both records show significant interannual variability of up to 0.3 ‰. The total range covered by smoothed monthly averages from the Lutjewad record is −0.34 ‰ to −0.12 ‰, which is significantly higher than the range of −0.20 ‰ to −0.17 ‰ for the model simulation. The 100 hPa 60–90° N monthly-mean temperature anomaly was used as a proxy to scale stratospheric downwelling in the model. This strongly improves the correlation coefficient of the simulated and observed year-to-year Δ(17O) variations over the period 2019–2021 from 0.40 to 0.82. As the Δ(17O) of atmospheric CO2 seems to be dominated by stratospheric influx, its use as a tracer for stratosphere–troposphere exchange should be further investigated.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11005-11027
JournalAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Volume24
Issue number19
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2024

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Interannual variations in the Δ(17O) signature of atmospheric CO2 at two mid-latitude sites suggest a close link to stratosphere–troposphere exchange'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this