Constraints on the global carbon budget from variations in total column carbon dioxide

Citation

Keppel-Aleks, Gretchen (2011) Constraints on the global carbon budget from variations in total column carbon dioxide. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:05312011-112642236

Abstract

Diagnosing the patterns and trends in the flux of carbon dioxide, $\mathrm{CO_2}$, between the land or ocean and the atmosphere is necessary to predict the response of the carbon cycle to climate change. Atmospheric observations of the vertically averaged mixing ratio of $\mathrm{CO_2}$, $\langle\mathrm{CO_2}\rangle$, provide a new tool that complements existing observations of boundary layer $\mathrm{CO_2}$ in constraining surface fluxes of $\mathrm{CO_2}$. This dissertation explores how variations in $\langle\mathrm{CO_2}\rangle$ arise and how these variations can be used to estimate surface fluxes.

Thesis Files