Comparative CO2 flux measurements by eddy covariance technique using open- and closed-path gas analysers over the equatorial Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Direct comparison of air–sea CO2 fluxes by open-path eddy covariance (OPEC) and closed-path eddy covariance (CPEC) techniques was carried out over the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Previous studies over oceans have shown that the CO2 flux by OPEC was larger than the bulk CO2 flux using the gas transfer velocity estimated by the mass balance technique, while the CO2 flux by CPEC agreed with the bulk CO2 flux. We investigated a traditional conflict between the CO2 flux by the eddy covariance technique and the bulk CO2 flux, and whether the CO2 fluctuation attenuated using the closed-path analyser can be measured with sufficient time responses to resolve small CO2 flux over oceans. Our results showed that the closed-path analyser using a short sampling tube and a high volume air pump can be used to measure the small CO2 fluctuation over the ocean. Further, the underestimated CO2 flux by CPEC due to the attenuated fluctuation can be corrected by the bandpass covariance method; its contribution was almost identical to that of H2O flux. The CO2 flux by CPEC agreed with the total CO2 flux by OPEC with density correction; however, both of them are one order of magnitude larger than the bulk CO2 flux.