Shipborne eddy covariance observations of methane fluxes constrain Arctic sea emissions

We demonstrate direct eddy covariance (EC) observations of methane (CH4) fluxes between the sea and atmosphere from an icebreaker in the eastern Arctic Ocean. EC-derived CH4 emissions averaged 4.58, 1.74, and 0.14 mg m−2 day−1 in the Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi seas, respectively, correspondi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Thornton, BF, Prytherch, J, Andersson, K, Brooks, IM, Salisbury, D, Tjernström, M, Crill, PM
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2020
Subjects:
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Laptev Sea
East Siberian Sea
Chukchi
laptev
Online Access:https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/156269/
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/156269/1/eaay7934.full.pdf
Description
Summary:We demonstrate direct eddy covariance (EC) observations of methane (CH4) fluxes between the sea and atmosphere from an icebreaker in the eastern Arctic Ocean. EC-derived CH4 emissions averaged 4.58, 1.74, and 0.14 mg m−2 day−1 in the Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi seas, respectively, corresponding to annual sea-wide fluxes of 0.83, 0.62, and 0.03 Tg year−1. These EC results answer concerns that previous diffusive emission estimates, which excluded bubbling, may underestimate total emissions. We assert that bubbling dominates sea-air CH4 fluxes in only small constrained areas: A ~100-m2 area of the East Siberian Sea showed sea-air CH4 fluxes exceeding 600 mg m−2 day−1; in a similarly sized area of the Laptev Sea, peak CH4 fluxes were ~170 mg m−2 day−1. Calculating additional emissions below the noise level of our EC system suggests total ESAS CH4 emissions of 3.02 Tg year−1, closely matching an earlier diffusive emission estimate of 2.9 Tg year−1.

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