Scientific Communities Striving for a Common Cause: Innovations in Carbon Cycle Science

Mary E. Whelan Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey

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Leander D. L. Anderegg Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, California

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Grayson Badgley School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

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J. Elliott Campbell Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California

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Roisin Commane Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York

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Christian Frankenberg Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, California Institute of Technology, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

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Timothy W. Hilton Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California

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Le Kuai Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

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Nicholas Parazoo Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

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Yoichi Shiga Universities Space Research Association, Mountain View, California

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Yuting Wang Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

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John Worden Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

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Abstract

Where does the carbon released by burning fossil fuels go? Currently, ocean and land systems remove about half of the CO2 emitted by human activities; the remainder stays in the atmosphere. These removal processes are sensitive to feedbacks in the energy, carbon, and water cycles that will change in the future. Observing how much carbon is taken up on land through photosynthesis is complicated because carbon is simultaneously respired by plants, animals, and microbes. Global observations from satellites and air samples suggest that natural ecosystems take up about as much CO2 as they emit. To match the data, our land models generate imaginary Earths where carbon uptake and respiration are roughly balanced, but the absolute quantities of carbon being exchanged vary widely. Getting the magnitude of the flux is essential to make sure our models are capturing the right pattern for the right reasons. Combining two cutting-edge tools, carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF), will help develop an independent answer of how much carbon is being taken up by global ecosystems. Photosynthesis requires CO2, light, and water. OCS provides a spatially and temporally integrated picture of the “front door” of photosynthesis, proportional to CO2 uptake and water loss through plant stomata. SIF provides a high-resolution snapshot of the “side door,” scaling with the light captured by leaves. These two independent pieces of information help us understand plant water and carbon exchange. A coordinated effort to generate SIF and OCS data through satellite, airborne, and ground observations will improve our process-based models to predict how these cycles will change in the future.

CURRENT AFFILIATION: Black Rock Forest Consortium, Cornwall, New York

Corresponding author: Mary E. Whelan, mary.whelan@rutgers.edu

Abstract

Where does the carbon released by burning fossil fuels go? Currently, ocean and land systems remove about half of the CO2 emitted by human activities; the remainder stays in the atmosphere. These removal processes are sensitive to feedbacks in the energy, carbon, and water cycles that will change in the future. Observing how much carbon is taken up on land through photosynthesis is complicated because carbon is simultaneously respired by plants, animals, and microbes. Global observations from satellites and air samples suggest that natural ecosystems take up about as much CO2 as they emit. To match the data, our land models generate imaginary Earths where carbon uptake and respiration are roughly balanced, but the absolute quantities of carbon being exchanged vary widely. Getting the magnitude of the flux is essential to make sure our models are capturing the right pattern for the right reasons. Combining two cutting-edge tools, carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF), will help develop an independent answer of how much carbon is being taken up by global ecosystems. Photosynthesis requires CO2, light, and water. OCS provides a spatially and temporally integrated picture of the “front door” of photosynthesis, proportional to CO2 uptake and water loss through plant stomata. SIF provides a high-resolution snapshot of the “side door,” scaling with the light captured by leaves. These two independent pieces of information help us understand plant water and carbon exchange. A coordinated effort to generate SIF and OCS data through satellite, airborne, and ground observations will improve our process-based models to predict how these cycles will change in the future.

CURRENT AFFILIATION: Black Rock Forest Consortium, Cornwall, New York

Corresponding author: Mary E. Whelan, mary.whelan@rutgers.edu
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