Global air-sea surface carbon-dioxide transfer velocity and flux estimated using ERS-2 data and a new parametric formula

Using data from the European remote sensing scatterometer (ERS-2) from July 1997 to August 1998, global distributions of the air-sea CO₂ transfer velocity and flux are retrieved. A new model of the air-sea CO₂ transfer velocity with surface wind speed and wave steepness is proposed. The wave steepness (δ) is retrieved using a neural network (NN) model from ERS-2 scatterometer data, while the wind speed is directly derived by the ERS-2 scatterometer. The new model agrees well with the formulations based on the wind speed and the variation in the wind speed dependent relationships presented in many previous studies can be explained by this proposed relation with variation in wave steepness effect. Seasonally global maps of gas transfer velocity and flux are shown on the basis of the new model and the seasonal variations of the transfer velocity and flux during the 1 a period. The global mean gas transfer velocity is 30 cm/h after area-weighting and Schmidt number correction and its accuracy remains calculation with in situ data. The highest transfer velocity occurs around 60°N and 60°S, while the lowest on the equator. The total air to sea CO₂ flux (calculated by carbon) in that year is 1.77 Pg. The strongest source of CO₂ is in the equatorial east Pacific Ocean, while the strongest sink is in the 68°N. Full exploration of the uncertainty of this estimate awaits further data. An effectual method is provided to calculate the effect of waves on the determination of air-sea CO₂ transfer velocity and fluxes with ERS-2 scatterometer data.