Permafrost nitrous oxide emissions observed on a landscape scale using the airborne eddy-covariance method
The microbial by-product nitrous oxide ( N 2 O ), a potent greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance, has conventionally been assumed to have minimal emissions in permafrost regions. This assumption has been questioned by recent in situ studies which have demonstrated that some geologic features...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:acp72292 2023-05-15T17:40:15+02:00 Permafrost nitrous oxide emissions observed on a landscape scale using the airborne eddy-covariance method Wilkerson, Jordan Dobosy, Ronald Sayres, David S. Healy, Claire Dumas, Edward Baker, Bruce Anderson, James G. 2019-04-03 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4257-2019 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/4257/2019/ eng eng doi:10.5194/acp-19-4257-2019 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/4257/2019/ eISSN: 1680-7324 Text 2019 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4257-2019 2019-12-24T09:49:21Z The microbial by-product nitrous oxide ( N 2 O ), a potent greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance, has conventionally been assumed to have minimal emissions in permafrost regions. This assumption has been questioned by recent in situ studies which have demonstrated that some geologic features in permafrost may, in fact, have elevated emissions comparable to those of tropical soils. However, these recent studies, along with every known in situ study focused on permafrost N 2 O fluxes, have used chambers to examine small areas ( <50 m 2 ). In late August 2013, we used the airborne eddy-covariance technique to make in situ N 2 O flux measurements over the North Slope of Alaska from a low-flying aircraft spanning a much larger area: around 310 km 2 . We observed large variability of N 2 O fluxes with many areas exhibiting negligible emissions. Still, the daily mean averaged over our flight campaign was 3.8 (2.2–4.7) mg N 2 O m −2 d −1 with the 90 % confidence interval shown in parentheses. If these measurements are representative of the whole month, then the permafrost areas we observed emitted a total of around 0.04–0.09 g m −2 for August, which is comparable to what is typically assumed to be the upper limit of yearly emissions for these regions. Text north slope permafrost Alaska Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 19 7 4257 4268 |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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English |
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The microbial by-product nitrous oxide ( N 2 O ), a potent greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance, has conventionally been assumed to have minimal emissions in permafrost regions. This assumption has been questioned by recent in situ studies which have demonstrated that some geologic features in permafrost may, in fact, have elevated emissions comparable to those of tropical soils. However, these recent studies, along with every known in situ study focused on permafrost N 2 O fluxes, have used chambers to examine small areas ( <50 m 2 ). In late August 2013, we used the airborne eddy-covariance technique to make in situ N 2 O flux measurements over the North Slope of Alaska from a low-flying aircraft spanning a much larger area: around 310 km 2 . We observed large variability of N 2 O fluxes with many areas exhibiting negligible emissions. Still, the daily mean averaged over our flight campaign was 3.8 (2.2–4.7) mg N 2 O m −2 d −1 with the 90 % confidence interval shown in parentheses. If these measurements are representative of the whole month, then the permafrost areas we observed emitted a total of around 0.04–0.09 g m −2 for August, which is comparable to what is typically assumed to be the upper limit of yearly emissions for these regions. |
format |
Text |
author |
Wilkerson, Jordan Dobosy, Ronald Sayres, David S. Healy, Claire Dumas, Edward Baker, Bruce Anderson, James G. |
spellingShingle |
Wilkerson, Jordan Dobosy, Ronald Sayres, David S. Healy, Claire Dumas, Edward Baker, Bruce Anderson, James G. Permafrost nitrous oxide emissions observed on a landscape scale using the airborne eddy-covariance method |
author_facet |
Wilkerson, Jordan Dobosy, Ronald Sayres, David S. Healy, Claire Dumas, Edward Baker, Bruce Anderson, James G. |
author_sort |
Wilkerson, Jordan |
title |
Permafrost nitrous oxide emissions observed on a landscape scale using the airborne eddy-covariance method |
title_short |
Permafrost nitrous oxide emissions observed on a landscape scale using the airborne eddy-covariance method |
title_full |
Permafrost nitrous oxide emissions observed on a landscape scale using the airborne eddy-covariance method |
title_fullStr |
Permafrost nitrous oxide emissions observed on a landscape scale using the airborne eddy-covariance method |
title_full_unstemmed |
Permafrost nitrous oxide emissions observed on a landscape scale using the airborne eddy-covariance method |
title_sort |
permafrost nitrous oxide emissions observed on a landscape scale using the airborne eddy-covariance method |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4257-2019 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/4257/2019/ |
genre |
north slope permafrost Alaska |
genre_facet |
north slope permafrost Alaska |
op_source |
eISSN: 1680-7324 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/acp-19-4257-2019 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/4257/2019/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4257-2019 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
4257 |
op_container_end_page |
4268 |
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1766141128854208512 |