Atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentrations derived from flask samples collected at USSR-operated sampling sites

Abstract

This document presents daily atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentrations from four USSR-operated sampling sites (Teriberka Station, Ocean Station Charlie, Bering Island, and Kotelny Island). The period of record varies by station with the earliest measurements dating back to 1983 and recent estimates from early 1991. These CO{sub 2} concentrations are derived from air samples collected in 1.5-L stainless steel electropolished flasks and later analyzed at the Main Geophysical Observatory (St. Petersburg, USSR) using a nondispersive infrared gas analyzer. Measurements not meeting wind direction, wind speed, inter-flask agreement, and climate condition criteria were either discarded or flagged. All measurements have been corrected for drift biases introduced during flask storage. These atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentrations are considered indicative of regional background air conditions and are directly traceable to the World Meteorological Organization`s primary CO{sub 2} standards. These measurements support the rising trend in atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentrations measured at other monitoring sites around the world and may be compared with similar measurements made by various monitoring programs at other northern latitude sites. The document presents the atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentrations in graphical and tabular form, describes the sampling methods, defines limitations and restrictions of the data, and describes the information on the magneticmore » media.« less