First atmospheric δO₂/N₂, CO₂ and δ¹³C flask measurements from vertical aircraft sampling in the lower troposphere above Griffin Forest (GRI), Perthshire, UK, (56°37’N, 3°47’W) and from ground based flask sampling at the high altitude site Jungfraujoch (JFJ), Switzerland (3580m above sea level (a.s.l.), 46°33’N, 7°59’E), and the mountain site Puy de Dôme (PUY), France (1480m a.s.l., 45°46’N, 2°58’E) are presented.

Continuous atmospheric measurements from tall towers have the capability to bridge an observational gap between hemispheric and local scales. We present first results from measurements made at such a tower in Germany. We show anti-correlated O₂ and CO₂ high frequency temporal variations which are caused by regional land biotic and fossil fuel emissions. We also show correlated changes in CO₂ concentration with air mass back trajectories, for example showing elevated CO₂ from air masses derived from eastern Europe, and lower, “background” concentrations from air masses derived from the North Atlantic.

The present study made an attempt to analyse the extent of natural and anthropogenic carbon in the atmosphere and oceans particularly with reference to Indian Ocean as major human clusters are responsible for climate change. The study also probes into the spatial patterns and temporal variation using the time series data collected from secondary sources.

Our understanding of biogeochemical and physical processes in the Southern Ocean, which are critically important to future anthropogenic CO₂ uptake and global climate, is limited by the sparse spatial and temporal coverage of existing oceanographic and atmospheric measurements. We will present high-precision horizontal atmospheric O₂ and CO₂ concentration gradients over the Southern Ocean from three independent observing networks. These measurements reveal that, relative to southern mid-latitudes and Antarctica, CO₂ concentrations over the Southern Ocean are high during winter and low during summer (Fig. 1). This suggests a seasonal variation between net CO₂ summertime uptake and wintertime release that is in disagreement with the T99 [Takahashi et al., 2002] dissolved pCO₂ climatology, which predicts year‑round CO₂ uptake, and with the OCMIP‑2 biological ocean general circulation models [BOGCMs, Doney et al., 2004], which either predict year-round CO₂ uptake or opposite seasonality with wintertime uptake and summertime release.

We will present our design of a new autonomous, inexpensive, and robust CO₂ analyzer (AIRCOA), a description of our quality control procedures, and data examples from ongoing deployments.  Our current AIRCOA units require less than $10K (USD) in components, show intercomparability better than 0.1 ppm during laboratory tests, and are designed to run autonomously for months at a time.

We are establishing a continuous CO₂ observing network in the Rocky Mountains, building on technological and modeling advances made during the Carbon in the Mountains Experiment (CME), to improve our understanding of regional carbon fluxes and to fill key gaps in the North American Carbon Program (NACP). We will present a description of the Rocky RACCOON network and early results from the first three sites.

Atmospheric Observing Systems, Inc. has developed a new Airborne Analyzer System for autonomous observations of dry mole fraction of Carbon Dioxide from light aircraft. AOS presents an archive of more than 100 vertical profiles to prove its performance. The observed site was Ameriflux (40.734N, 104.301W) in northern Colorado.

Measurements of concurrent changes in both the atmospheric O₂ and CO₂ mixing ratios have been proven to be useful independent information for the partitioning of anthropogenic CO₂ into its different sinks [e.g. Keeling et al., 1996]. This information is used along with the “classical” partitioning models that make use of CO₂ concentration and (radioactive as well as stable) isotopic composition information [e.g. Keeling et al., 1995]. Global carbon budget reconstruction needs long time series observations of global means. Downscaling to a more regional assessment introduces a closer relation to possible annual and regional variations in prescribed oxidative ratios of biospheric and combustion processes. With the goal of improving the knowledge on the temporal and local variability of the O₂/ CO₂ signal, we present the results of the analysis on an extended data set from the remote station of Lutjewad (The Netherlands) and compare them with the findings of different other sampling stations in Europe, starting from 2001 till present.

Existing instruments for measuring atmospheric profiles of carbon dioxide can be very sensitive, but are all large and bulky and must be flown using aircraft or large, research gondolas.  This work reports on the development of a stand-alone, lightweight CO₂ sensor for use on balloon sondes.  This device will have sub part-per-million (ppm) sensitivity and weigh less than 1 kg.