Variability of ground CO2 concentration in the middle taiga subzone of the Yenisei region of Siberia

Abstract

The results of measurements of ground CO2 concentration in the middle taiga subzone of the Yenisei region of Siberia (the ZOTTO observatory) in 2009 to 2012 are presented. Specific features of CO2 variability over the altitude profile up to 301 m are accounted for by specific diurnal and seasonal features in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems as well as by atmospheric processes. It has been shown that the significance of regional and global components increases with elevation, while the contribution of the underlying surface in the region of the observatory decreases. The observed gradient differences between CO2 concentrations recorded at the onset and at the end of the cold period are explained by seasonal changes in the height of the atmospheric boundary layer. Comparison of data obtained at the ZOTTO observatory and at monitoring stations in Canada and the North Atlantic has shown that general trends in the seasonal variability of CO2 are similar and that specific features of the processes under study are dependent on biogeographic characteristics of the study regions.