Using with in situ data

The FluxEngine and in situ data

The FluxEngine is an open source tool for calculating atmosphere-ocean gas fluxes. Whilst being originally designed for global studies, the FluxEngine can also be used to support in situ studies.

SOCAT fCO₂ data processed using the FluxEngine, a) all of the SOCAT v1.5 Tropical Atlantic fCO₂ data binned into a common grid, b) the SOCAT v1.5 Tropical Atlantic fCO₂ data for one cruise (Bakker, 2014) in October 2000 (west of the African coast), c) the Earth observation derived gas transfer velocity for October 2000 and d) the resultant air-sea CO₂ fluxes corresponding to the fCO₂ data in b).

For this example, the figure shows measured in situ pCO₂ and sea surface temperature and the results of using the FluxEngine to calculate the resulting air-sea gas fluxes. The FluxEngine allows users to combine the in situ data with coincident Earth observation data to calculate the air-sea CO₂ flux for each in situ data point. For this example set of results, the fluxes can be seen to vary along the cruise track between a source (positive) and a sink (negative) of CO₂ (Figure d).

The example in situ data taken from the community Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) and they are the data from Bakker, 2014.

The OceanFlux Greenhouse Gases Evolution project are now using the FluxEngine to gain a better understanding of the variability of the oceanic sink of CO₂ and the mechanisms that drive the gas exchange.

Reference

Bakker, D. C. E.: Underway physical oceanography and carbon dioxide measurements during POLARSTERN cruise ANT-XVIII/1. School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, PANGAEA, available here (access at 06/01/2016), 2014.

Shutler JD, Land PE, Piolle J-F, Woolf DK, Goddijn-Murphy L, Paul F, Girard-Ardhuin F, Chapron B, Donlon CJ (2016), FluxEngine: a flexible processing system for calculating atmosphere-ocean carbon dioxide gas fluxes and climatologies, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, doi: 10.1175/JTECH-D-14-00204.1. link