Spatio-Temporal Variability in CO2 Fluxes in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean

de Carvalho, Gabrielle Tavares; Pezzi, Luciano Ponzi; Lefèvre, Nathalie; Rodrigues, Celina Cândida Ferreira; Santini, Marcelo Freitas; Mejia, Carlos

doi:10.3390/atmos16030319

Open AccessArticle

Spatio-Temporal Variability in CO₂ Fluxes in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean

by

Gabrielle Tavares de Carvalho

¹

,

Luciano Ponzi Pezzi

^1,*

,

Nathalie Lefèvre

²

,

Celina Cândida Ferreira Rodrigues

¹,

Marcelo Freitas Santini

¹

and

Carlos Mejia

²

¹

Laboratory of Ocean and Atmosphere Studies (LOA), Earth Observation and Geoinformatics Division (DIOTG), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Av. dos Astronautas, 1758, São José dos Campos 12227-010, SP, Brazil

²

Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat: Expérimentations et Approches Numériques, Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD), Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) and Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL), Place Jussieu, 4, 75252 Paris, France

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Atmosphere 2025, 16(3), 319; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16030319

Submission received: 5 February 2025 / Revised: 25 February 2025 / Accepted: 28 February 2025 / Published: 10 March 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air-Sea Interactions: Recent Trends, Current Progress and Future Directions)

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Abstract

The Southern Ocean (SO) plays a fundamental role in the planet’s climate system, due to its ability to absorb and redistribute heat and CO₂ (an important greenhouse gas). In addition, the SO connects three large oceanic basins the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Indian Oceans, and it has an important role in the nutrient distribution in these oceans. However, the SO is poorly sampled, with most measurements made in austral spring and summer. The variability in the air–sea CO₂ flux is estimated, as well as the role of atmospheric and oceanic variables in this variability. The CO₂ fluxes are calculated using the bulk parameterization method, in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, from 2003 to 2022, using in situ measurements, satellites, and a reanalysis data set. A neural network model is built to produce maps of the partial pressure of CO₂ in seawater (pCO_2sea). The CO₂ flux varies from −0.05 to 0.05 gC m⁻² month⁻¹. The Atlantic sector of the SO is a sink of CO₂ in summer and spring and becomes a source in austral winter and autumn. The CO₂ absorption intensifies from 2003 to 2022 by 7.6 mmol m⁻² month⁻¹, due to stronger westerly winds, related to the trend in the positive phase of the Antarctic Oscillation and the extreme El Niño Southern Ocean (ENSO) events (e.g., El Niño and La Niña).

Keywords: air-sea interaction; CO₂ flux; variability of CO₂ fluxes; Atlantic Ocean; Southern Ocean

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MDPI and ACS Style

de Carvalho, G.T.; Pezzi, L.P.; Lefèvre, N.; Rodrigues, C.C.F.; Santini, M.F.; Mejia, C. Spatio-Temporal Variability in CO₂ Fluxes in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean. Atmosphere 2025, 16, 319. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16030319

AMA Style

de Carvalho GT, Pezzi LP, Lefèvre N, Rodrigues CCF, Santini MF, Mejia C. Spatio-Temporal Variability in CO₂ Fluxes in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean. Atmosphere. 2025; 16(3):319. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16030319

Chicago/Turabian Style

de Carvalho, Gabrielle Tavares, Luciano Ponzi Pezzi, Nathalie Lefèvre, Celina Cândida Ferreira Rodrigues, Marcelo Freitas Santini, and Carlos Mejia. 2025. "Spatio-Temporal Variability in CO₂ Fluxes in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean" Atmosphere 16, no. 3: 319. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16030319

APA Style

de Carvalho, G. T., Pezzi, L. P., Lefèvre, N., Rodrigues, C. C. F., Santini, M. F., & Mejia, C. (2025). Spatio-Temporal Variability in CO₂ Fluxes in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean. Atmosphere, 16(3), 319. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16030319

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Spatio-Temporal Variability in CO₂ Fluxes in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean

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