The CSIRO/CAWCR Australian Tropical Atmospheric Research ... · •Telstra next 3G (landline due...

The Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research A partnership between CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology

The CSIRO/CAWCR Australian Tropical Atmospheric Research

Station (ATARS)

M. V. van der Schoot, L. P. Steele, D. A. Spencer, P.

B. Krummel, P.J. Fraser, Z. Loh, B. Atkinson, D. Klau

www.cawcr.gov.au

Asian GAW GHG Workshop

Sep 2012

Outline of today’s talk

• Asian/Australian tropics regional GHG observation

network

• Importance of tropics on global (and regional)

climate

• Update on pilot Australian Tropical Atmospheric

Research Station (ATARS)

The Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research

A partnership between CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology

AGGON



Southeast Asia-Australian Regional Network





Carbon cycle vulnerability in the 21st Century

Permafrost

HL Peatlands

T Peatlands

Veg.-Drought/Fire/Def

CH4 Hydrates

Biological Pump

Solubility Pump

Hot Spots of the Carbon-Climate System

Oceans

Land

Field and Raupach 2004

GCP 2005 Many Pools and Processes not in GCMs

2006

2007



Why are tropics important?

• Tropics play a major role in global climate processes (not well defined):

• home to ~1/2 of global population & rapid economic development (eg. India & China)

• major global biomass burning, peatland drainage, wetlands

• major source and sink region for CO2, CH4, N2O, O3, OH, H2.......

• short-lived halocarbons (stratospheric influence with deep tropical convection)

• Tropics are a critically under-sampled region (global atmospheric observation networks)

• Research objectives:

• reduce uncertainties in sources/sinks of many climatically active constituents (CO2, CH4,

N2O, O3, OH, H2.......)

• quantify GHG impact of Australian and SE Asian biomass burning and tropical forest

clearing (peatland emissions)

• why has global CH4 increased since 2007 (after a decade of stability)?

• Boreal and tropics (wetland emissions)

• Biomass burning changes unlikely as little activity since 2002

• Dominant variability in tropics is ENSO (biomass burning)

Mean annual burned area (1997-2009)

(GFED3) (as % of area of the grid cell)



Australian fire emissions (GFED)



Tropical Sampling Sites in Australia

Cape Ferguson, QLD Dec 1989 –

Great Barrier Reef, QLD Jun 1986 – Dec 1988 (sporadic)

Charles Point, NT Sep 1990 – Dec 1990

Oct 1992 – Dec 1998

Jabiru, NT Jan 1987 – May 1991

Myilly Point, NT Aug 1990 – Mar 1993 (sporadic)

Trace gas species analysed:

Before 1991/92: CO2, CH4, CO

After 1991/92: CO2 and its d13C and d18O, CH4, CO, H2, N2O

9

Australian Tropical Sites – CH4



1640

1660

1680

1700

1720

1740

1760

1780

1800

1820

1840

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Date

CH

4 (

pp

b)

Cape Grim

Mauna Loa

Cape Ferguson

Charles Point

Australian Tropical Sites – CO2



345

350

355

360

365

370

375

380

385

390

395

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Date

CO

2 (

pp

m)

Cape Grim

Mauna Loa

Cape Ferguson

Charles Point

CSIRO. 3.1 Southern Ocean Carbon Sink

Estimating greenhouse gas sources from

biomass burning (Australian tropics)

Key Question

• Can a new high precision atmospheric observatory in the Australian tropics enhance the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from biomass burning, particularly focussed in the Australian tropics?

Project Objectives

1. Create a comprehensive, precise and integrated data set for CO2, CO2 isotopes, CH4, N2O in the Australian region;

2. Prepare a qualitative description of the impact of biomass burning on cycling of GHGs in the Australian region, in particular in the tropics;

3. Develop the new high precision Australian tropical baseline station (Gunn Pt., NT) and integrate it into existing Australian GHG monitoring network

4. Via existing and future (ACCESS) carbon cycle models, combine high precision atmospheric CO2, isotopic CO2, CH4 and N2O data to make the most accurate estimate to date of the magnitude Australian source of GHGs from biomass burning.



Gunn Point (NT) –

New tropical Australian monitoring site

• Wet / Dry season air masses giving continental coverage with Cape

Grim station, clean Indian Ocean air & SE Asian air masses

• Based at existing research radar site at Gunn Point (BoM)

• Unique opportunity to combine existing physical atmospheric research

facilities currently in Darwin (BoM / US DoE Atmospheric Radiation

Measurement program) with chemical atmospheric measurements

• Regular field campaigns (Mctex, TRMM, Dawex, TWPICE...)

• TCCON network site at Darwin (FTS) for satellite validation (GOSAT,

SCHIAMACHY) since September 2005 (University of

Wollongong/Caltech)

• Extensive tropical ecosystem (Savanah) research (CSIRO, Charles

Darwin University)

Gunn Point Pilot Tropical Atmospheric

Research Station

• Latitude : 12.2oS

• Longitude : 131.0oE

• Elevation: 25 m

• Road Access

• 1-2 hours from Darwin (70 km road)

• 4WD

• 35 km unsealed road subject to wet season flooding

• Site History

• Ex-prison farm (closed 1990)

• Radar Site - Bureau of Meteorology lease since 2004

• Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Site (ARM funded US Department of

Energy)

• Power

• Town power (generally reliable but does fail in storms)

• Backup generator for essential applications (~3 days)

• Communications

• Land line and mobile next G reception




Gunn Point – Lab details

Laboratory:

• 20 ft. container from CSIRO (Highett)

• Dual A/C

• Dual air intake roof ports

• Roof top platform and mast sampling

• Network cameras inside

• Telstra next 3G (landline due anyday)

Mast :

• 12m See-saw pole (commercial light pole, cyclone rated)

• Multiple air intakes

• Anemometer

Power:

• 3-phase

• 2 power feeds – mains and generator back-up

• Individual instrument UPS for critical equipment





Air mass origin maps Gunn Point

(courtesy Alistair Manning UK Met Office )

Dry season

Wet

season



Darwin wind frequency (Darwin airport)

wet season (3pm) dry season (9am)







Gunn Point – atmospheric measurement

program

• Current (Sep 2011)

• In-situ CO2 & CH4 (CRDS)

• In-situ 13CO2/12CO2 (CRDS)*

• Flask CO2, CH4,13CO2/

12CO2, N2O, CO, H2

• Radon (ANSTO)

• Basic meteorological parameters (WS, WD)

• O3 (UV spectrometry) / CO (NDIR) /NO/NOX (chemiluminescence)

• Aetholometer and nephelometer

• Proposed measurement program • In-situ CO/N2O (Off-axis ICOS) (2012)

• AWS

• PM2.5/PM10

• Aerosols+VOCs (dry season campaign completed June 2010)

• Short-lived halocarbons (CHBr3/CH2Br2/CHCl3/C2Cl4/CH2CCl3/CCl4..): GC-ECD (N. Harris,

U. Cambridge, UK) (2012)

• ODS: Medusa (2013?)

Preliminary Gunn Pt. CO2



365

385

405

425

445

465

Dec-09

Mar-10

Jun-10

Sep-10

Jan-11

Apr-11

Jul-11

Nov-11

Feb-12

May-12

Aug-12

Dec-12

CO2 (

ppm)

Date

Gunn Pt (GPA) in-situ CO2 vs Cape Ferguson (CFA) discrete CO2 smoothed

GPA CO2

CFA CO2 (smoothed)

GPA CO2 (flask)

Preliminary Gunn Pt. CH4



1.55

1.65

1.75

1.85

1.95

2.05

2.15

2.25

2.35

2.45

Dec-09

Mar-10

Jun-10

Sep-10

Jan-11

Apr-11

Jul-11

Nov-11

Feb-12

May-12

Aug-12

Dec-12

CH4 (

ppm)

Date

Gunn Pt (GPA) in-situ CH4 vs Cape Ferguson (CFA) discrete CH4 smoothed

GPA CH4

CFA CH4 (smoothed)

GPA CH4 (flask)

Gunn Pt. flask data



Cape Ferguson









Thank you

The Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research A partnership between CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology

Thank you www.cawcr.gov.au

Date post:	08-Oct-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	2 times
Download:	0 times

The CSIRO/CAWCR Australian Tropical Atmospheric Research ... · •Telstra next 3G (landline due...

Documents