Gas exchange work

Gas Exchange in Rivers and Estuaries

The processes controlling transport of carbon between watersheds and the ocean remain a large source of uncertainty in regional and global carbon balances. The flux of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from rivers and estuaries to the atmosphere is a significant component in river/estuarine carbon mass balances. In order to obtain accurate CO₂ fluxes for biogeochemical cycling studies and to understand the fate and transport of CO₂ in drainage basins and coastal margins, the uncertainty in the rate of air-water CO₂ exchange, and factors that control the gas transfer velocity, and therefore CO₂ flux, must be diminished.

The objectives of this project are:

1. To determine the spatial and temporal variability of the CO₂ flux and gas transfer velocity in river/estuarine systems.
2. To measure the processes controlling the air-water CO₂ exchange rate in river/estuarine systems, and resolve the relative importance that wind, tides, stratification, and bathymetry play in generating near surface turbulence in various estuarine systems.
3. To determine the relative importance of the air-water CO₂ flux versus the fluvial transport of carbon in various estuarine systems.

Collaborators: Wade McGillis, Chris Zappa

Funding: NSF, Collaborative Research: Determining the Air-Water CO2 Flux in Coastal Systems