Ship-based observations of atmospheric potential oxygen and regional air–sea O2 flux in the northern North Pacific and the Arctic Ocean

• Published in: Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology
• Main Authors: Shigeyuki Ishidoya, Hiroshi Uchida, Daisuke Sasano, Naohiro Kosugi, Shoichi Taguchi, Masao Ishii, Shinji Morimoto, Yasunori Tohjima, Shigeto Nishino, Shohei Murayama, Shuji Aoki, Kentaro Ishijima, Ryo Fujita, Daisuke Goto, Takakiyo Nakazawa
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Stockholm University Press 2016
• Subjects: atmospheric potential oxygen; air-sea O2 flux; ship observation; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Pacific
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v68.29972; https://doaj.org/article/e7e0f689e9ca43bcac3fd8da493160c9

Simultaneous observations of atmospheric potential oxygen (APO=O2+1.1×CO2) and air–sea O2 flux, derived from dissolved oxygen in surface seawater, were carried out onboard the research vessel MIRAI in the northern North Pacific and the Arctic Ocean in the autumns of 2012–2014. A simulation of the APO was also carried out using a three-dimensional atmospheric transport model that incorporated a monthly air–sea O2 flux climatology. By comparing the observed and simulated APO, as well as the observed and climatological air–sea O2 fluxes, it was found that the large day-to-day variation in the observed APO can be attributed to the day-to-day variation in the local air–sea O2 fluxes around the observation sites. It was also found that the average value of the observed air–sea O2 fluxes was systematically higher than that of the climatological O2 flux. This could explain the discrepancy between the observed and simulated seasonal APO cycles widely seen at various northern hemispheric observational sites in the fall season.