HR: 1340h
AN: B53B-1168    [Abstracts]
TI: The Use of a Mesoscale Climate Model to Validate the Nocturnal Carbon Flux over a Forested Site
AU: * Werth, D
EM: david.werth@srnl.doe.gov
AF: Savannah River National Laboratory, Savannah River Site Building 773-A, Aiken, SC 29808, United States
AU: Parker, M
EM: matt.parker@srnl.doe.gov
AF: Savannah River National Laboratory, Savannah River Site Building 773-A, Aiken, SC 29808, United States
AU: Kurzeja, R
EM: robert.kurzeja@srnl.doe.gov
AF: Savannah River National Laboratory, Savannah River Site Building 773-A, Aiken, SC 29808, United States
AU: Leclerc, M
EM: mleclerc@uga.edu
AF: The University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment St., Griffin, GA 30223, United States
AU: Watson, T
EM: twatson@bnl.gov
AF: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Bldg. 815E, Upton, NY 11973, United States
AB: The Savannah River National Laboratory is initiating a comprehensive carbon dioxide monitoring and modeling program in collaboration with the University of Georgia and the Brookhaven National Laboratory. One of the primary goals is to study the dynamics of carbon dioxide in the stable nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) over a forested area of the Savannah River Site in southwest South Carolina. In the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL), eddy flux correlation is less effective in determining the release of CO2 due to respiration. Theoretically, however, the flux can be inferred by measuring the build up of CO2 in the stable layer throughout the night. This method of monitoring the flux will be validated and studied in more detail with both observations and the results of a high-resolution regional climate model. The experiment will involve two phases. First, an artificial tracer will be released into the forest boundary layer and observed through an array of sensors and at a flux tower. The event will be simulated with the RAMS climate model run at very high resolution. Ideally, the tracer will remain trapped within the stable layer and accumulate at rates which will allow us to infer the release rate, and this should compare well to the actual release rate. If an unknown mechanism allows the tracer to escape, the model simulation would be used to reveal it. In the second phase, carbon fluxes will be measured overnight through accumulation in the overlying layer. The RAMS model will be coupled with the SiB carbon model to simulate the nocturnal cycle of carbon dynamics, and this will be compared to the data collected during the night. As with the tracer study, the NBL method of flux measurement will be validated against the model. The RAMS-SiB coupled model has been run over the SRS at high-resolution to simulate the NBL, and results from simulations of both phases of the project will be presented.
DE: 0426 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions (0315)
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 1631 Land/atmosphere interactions (1218, 1843, 3322)
DE: 3307 Boundary layer processes
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting