Carbon dioxide content in the atmospheric thickness over central Eurasia (Issyk Kul Monitoring Station)

Abstract

The refined data obtained from the spectroscopic measurements of carbon dioxide in the column of the continental atmosphere over the Issyk Kul Monitoring Station during the period 1980–2006 and the results of their comparison with the data obtained from the measurements of carbon dioxide in air samples and with the mean zonal empirical model of the Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL) are given. Seasonal variations and a long-term trend of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmospheric thickness over a 25-year period of measurements are analyzed. The monthly mean concentration of CO2 is increased by ∼40.5 ppm, and the linear-trend index is 1.62 ppm per year. The results of the aircraft measurements of CO2 concentration in air samples are, on the average, in agreement with the data obtained from the spectroscopic measurements of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmospheric column. The CO2 concentration in the surface air varies from day to day, and only its minimum values coincide with the CO2 concentration in the atmospheric thickness. The results of measurements of CO2 concentration in the atmospheric thickness and in the atmospheric surface layer over the KZD and KZM stations nearest to each other are, on the whole, in disagreement; moreover, the KZD and KZM data are inconsistent. The CO2 concentration in the atmospheric thickness is, on the average, 1–2% higher than that obtained with the CMDL model for 42.6° N latitude. The coefficient of correlation between the measurement results and model data is high (r= 0.95).