Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Record from Wank Peak

Graphics    Digital Data

Investigators

R. Sladkovic, H.E. Scheel, W. Seiler
Fraunhofer Institute for Atmospheric Environmental Research (IFU),
D-82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
Germany

Period of Record

1980-92

Methods

Ambient air has been measured continuously using a URAS 2T NDIR analyzer with flowing reference gas. Every 24 hours, two CO₂-in-N₂ working standards are passed into the instrument for calibration. The mixing ratios of the working standards are related to two primary CO₂-in-N₂ standards (312 and 387 ppmv) based on the 1974 Keeling scale (WMO X74 scale), which are kept in the laboratory. Details on the measurements through 1985 are discussed in Reiter et al. (1986).

Wank Peak, Germany
Mountain peak
47°30' N, 11°08' E

Trends

The monitoring site at Wank Peak (WMO-BAPMoN station) is located on the grass-covered, rounded top of the mountain, just above the timberline. Previously reported monthly mean CO₂ concentrations for Wank Peak (cf. Trends '91; WMO WDCGG Data Report, 1992) were based on valid data (only technically invalid data had been eliminated). In contrast, the monthly concentrations given here were calculated from filtered data that were considered indicative of background concentrations. Filtered data consist only of measurements collected during specified conditions of wind velocity (>4m/s) and wind direction (225°-315°). Measurements biased by local meteorology or by synoptic scale processes were removed from the data by visual inspection. The differences between the annual averages obtained from unfiltered data and the averages from filtered data are typically ~0.5 parts per million by volume (ppmv).

The mean annual CO₂ concentrations at Wank Peak increased from 334.2 ppmv in 1980 to 348.6 ppmv in 1992.

References

• Reiter, R., and H.J. Kanter. 1980. First results of simultaneous recordings of the CO₂-concentration from a valley station and a neighboring mountain station at an altitude difference of about 1 km. Archiv fuer Meteorologie, Geophysik, und Bioklimatologie 28:1-13.
• Reiter, R., and H.J. Kanter. 1982. Time behavior of CO₂ and O₃ in the lower troposphere based on recordings from neighboring mountain stations between 0.7 and 3.0 km ASL including the effects of meteorological parameters. Archiv fuer Meteorologie, Geophysik, und Bioklimatologie 30:191-225.
• Reiter, R., K. Munzert, and H.J. Kanter. 1985. Parameterization of the variation of CO₂ and O₃ in the lower troposphere based on 5-year recordings at 0.7/1.8/3.0 km ASL with consideration of the most important magnitudes of meteorology, biomass, and anthropogenic effects. World Meteorological Organization, Special Environmental Report No. 16. WMO No. 647. TECOMAC. Geneva.
• Reiter, R., R. Sladkovic, and H.J. Kanter. 1986. Concentration of trace gases in the lower troposphere, Part I: Carbon dioxide. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics 35:187-200.
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 1989. Provisional daily atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations as measured at BAPMoN sites for the years 1986 and 1987. WMO/TD-No. 306. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva.
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 1990. Provisional daily atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations as measured at BAPMoN sites for the year 1988. WMO/TD-No. 355. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva.
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 1991. Provisional daily atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations as measured at (GAW)-BAPMoN sites for the year 1990. WMO/TD-No. 447. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva.
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 1992. WMO WDCGG Data Report, Part A (Carbon Dioxide), WDCGG No. 2. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva.

12/03/97