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New Climate Change Products

April 2008

• Richard Houghton's "Carbon Flux to the Atmosphere from Land-Use Changes" data has been updated. These data, originally published as NDP-050 (1850-1980), and later included in CDIAC's TRENDS collection (1850-2000), now include regional and global estimates for the time period from 1850 through 2005.
   
  The estimated global total net flux of carbon from changes in land use increased from 500.6 Tg C (1 teragram = 1012 gram) in 1850 to a maximum of 1712.5 Tg C (or 1.7 Pg C, where 1 petagram = 1015 gram) in 1991, then declined to 1409.9 Tg C (1.4 Pg C) in 2000, and rose slightly to 1467.3 Tg C (or 1.46 Pg C) in 2005. The global net flux during the period 1850-2000 was 148.6 Pg C, about 55% of which was from the tropics. During the period 1990-2005, the greatest regional flux was from South and Central America (11.3 Pg C).
   
• In a recent publication in Geophysical Research Letters Jay Gregg of the University of Maryland and CDIAC's Robert Andres and Gregg Marland present an analysis of the seasonal and spatial pattern of CO₂ emissions in China from fossil fuel combustion and cement manufacture. Analyzing CDIAC data on yearly CO₂ emissions from China and the U.S., the authors found that China is now the largest national source of CO₂ emissions, surpassing the United States which had occupied that position until late 2006. The annual CO₂ emissions rate in the U.S. was relatively stable between 2001-2006 while the emission rate in China more than doubled during that time.
   
  The authors discuss the uncertainties in the data and their analysis and the implications of China's very rapid growth in CO₂ emissions. Currently, over half of the global growth in CO₂ emissions is occurring in China. Per capita emissions from China are now at global-average values and are reaching European-average values in some rapidly industrializing areas, propelling China into the position as the largest national source of CO₂.
   

March 2008

• The latest global cloudiness database compiled by Dr. Carole J. Hahn (University of Arizona) and Dr. Stephen G. Warren (University of Washington) is now available from CDIAC. "A Gridded Climatology of Clouds over Land (1971-96) and Ocean (1954-97) from Surface Observations Worldwide" (CDIAC NDP-026E) is the latest entry in CDIAC's NDP-026 global cloud data series.
   
  Surface synoptic weather reports from ships and land stations worldwide were processed to produce a global cloud climatology which includes: total cloud cover, the amount and frequency of occurrence of nine cloud types within three levels of the troposphere, the frequency of occurrence of clear sky and of precipitation, the base heights of low clouds, and the non-overlapped amounts of middle and high clouds. Synoptic weather reports are made every three hours; the cloud information in a report is obtained visually by human observers. Covering the period 1971-96 for land and 1954-97 for ocean, the database provides multi-year monthly, seasonal, and annual averages in 5×5-degree grid boxes (or 10×10-degree boxes for some quantities over the ocean). The analysis used 185 million reports from 5388 weather stations on continents and islands, and 50 million reports from ships; these reports passed a series of quality-control checks. This analysis updates (and in most ways supercedes) the previous cloud climatology constructed by the authors in the 1980s.
   
• The LDEO (Takahashi) data base (Version 1.0) is now available for general public use through CDIAC. More than 3 million measurements of surface water partial pressure of CO₂ obtained over the global oceans during 1968 - 2006 are listed in the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) database, which includes open ocean and coastal water measurements. The data assembled include only those measured by equilibrator-CO₂ analyzer systems and have been quality-controlled based on the stability of the system performance, the reliability of calibrations for CO₂ analysis, and the internal consistency of data. To allow re-examination of the data in the future, a number of measured parameters relevant to pCO₂ measurements are listed. The overall uncertainty for the pCO₂ values listed is estimated to be ± 2.5 uatm on the average.
   
  The data presented in this database include the analysis of partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂), sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), pressure of the equilibration, and barometric pressure in the outside air from the ship's observation system. The global pCO₂ data set is available free of charge as a numeric data package (NDP-088) from CDIAC) The database is available as simple ASCII data and metadata files, as an ODV collection, and via two search engines: WAVES and LAS.
   
• A recent publication by CDIAC staff provides monthly estimates of the global emissions of anthropogenic CO₂. Monthly flux estimates were computed based on data for the United States, applied globally, and used to model atmospheric CO₂ concentrations in the NASA GEOS-4 data assimilation system. Model results show that the monthly resolved fluxes make a significant difference in the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO₂ in and near those regions where anthropogenic CO₂ is released to the atmosphere. In the midlatitudes near the sources, synoptic scale atmospheric circulations are important in the winter and boundary layer venting and diurnal rectifier effects are more important in the summer. These findings have implications for inverse-modeling efforts that attempt to estimate surface source/sink regions, especially when the surface sinks are colocated with regions of strong anthropogenic CO₂ emissions.
   
  Reference: Erickson, DJ III, Mills RT, Gregg J, Blasing TJ, Hoffman FM, Andres RJ, Devries M, Zhu Z, Kawa SR (2008) An estimate of monthly global emissions of anthropogenic CO₂: Impact on the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO₂. J. Geophys. Res., 113: G01023, doi:10.1029/2007JG000435.

February 2008

• CDIAC has launched a new data and information Web site for the Coastal Carbon Data, including data from VOS, moorings, and hydrography (bottle measurements from coastal cruises). At present, there are only three regions to chose from: North American East Coast, North American West Coast, and European Coast. Scientists with data in these three regions are requested to check the information provided and to provide corrections, data links and updates as necessary.
   
  Data and information from other regions is being sought to develop a truly global database. This is a tool that has been requested repeatedly over the years by many research and observation programs. This Web site will also compliment the North America Carbon Program (NACP) research.
   
• The CO₂ record for Jubany Station on the Antarctic Peninsula has been updated. The annual average concentration for 2007 was over 381 ppmv. Typically, Antarctic stations are below the global average because they are farthest from emissions sources which are largely in the Northern Hemisphere.
   
  
   

January 2008

• The "Guide to best practices for ocean CO₂ measurements" is now available. This Guide was originally prepared at the request, and with the active participation, of a science team formed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to carry out the first global survey of carbon dioxide in the oceans (DOE. 1994. Handbook of methods for the analysis of the various parameters of the carbon dioxide system in sea water; version 2, A.G. Dickson and C. Goyet, Eds. ORNL/CDIAC-74). The manual has been updated several times since, and the current version contains the most up-to-date information available on the chemistry of CO₂ in sea water and the methodology of determining carbon system parameters. This revision has been made possible by the generous support of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), the Scientific Committee on Ocean Research (SCOR), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Committee (IOC) and DOE through CDIAC.
   
  This manual should be cited as: Dickson, A.G., Sabine, C.L. and Christian, J.R. (Eds.) 2007. Guide to best practices for ocean CO₂ measurements. PICES Special Publication 3, 191 pp.
   
  To order a hard copy of the Guide, please send a message to Alex Kozyr of CDIAC at kozyra@ornl.gov with complete mailing address and the number of copies needed.
   
• CDIAC staff contributed to two recent publications on carbon emissions:
   
  • Gregg JS, Andres RJ (2008). A method for estimating the temporal and spatial patterns of carbon dioxide emissions from national fossil-fuel consumption. Tellus 60B:1-10.
     
  • Gurney K, Ansley W, Mendoza D, Seib B, Petron G, Frost G, Gregg J, Fischer M, Pataki D, Ackerman K, Houweling S, Corbin K, Andres R, Blasing TJ (2007). Research Needs for Finely Resolved Fossil Carbon Emissions. Eos 88:542-543.
     

December 2007

• Recent Additions to the NARSTO Permanent Data Archive at the Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center and ORNL's QSSC FTP Site.
   
  • 5-Year Black Carbon Record for Fresno Supersite Released December 20, 2007. A multiwavelength aethalometer (model AE30S) has been operated at the Fresno supersite from May 1999 to December 2006. The collected aerosol sample was illuminated with light from seven light emitting diodes at wavelengths of 370, 470, 520, 590, 660, 880, and 950 nm. Aerosol samples were collected for five minute periods through a sharp cut size-selective cyclone to limit the size of particles to aerodynamic diameters of 2.5 μm and less. The concentration of black carbon corresponds to the 880 nm measurement. The black carbon equivalents at the other six wavelengths are also determined.
     
  • 5-Year Elemental Carbon Record for Fresno Supersite Released December 14, 2007. This data set contains the measurements taken with a single and dual wavelength aethalometer. The single wavelength aethalometer (model AE14) was operated at the Fresno supersite from December 1999 to September 2002. It used a broad spectrum incandescent lamp to illuminate the collected aerosol. Aerosol samples were collected for five minute periods through a sharp cut size-selective cyclone to limit the size of particles to aerodynamic diameters of 2.5 μm and less. A single concentration of elemental carbon was determined for each five minute period.
     
    A dual-wavelength aethalometer (model AE21) operated at the Fresno supersite from February 2003 to December 2006. The collected aerosol sample was illuminated with light from two light emitting diodes at wavelengths of 370 and 880 nm. Aerosol samples were collected for five minute periods through a sharp cut size-selective cyclone to limit the size of particles to aerodynamic diameters of 2.5 μm and less. The concentration of elemental carbon corresponds to the 880 nm measurement. The elemental carbon equivalent at the ultraviolet wavelength was also determined.
     
• Gregg Marland is a lead author of the Overview of Part II of the recently published State of the Carbon Cycle Report. Part II covers fossil-fuel CO₂ emissions from energy, industry, and waste management activities. Other authors include Bob Andres and T.J. Blasing as well as our former students: Christine Broniak, Jay Gregg, and London Losey. The report was published in November by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
   
  T.J. Blasing is an author of a paper presented at the Buildings X Conference of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The paper, entitled, "Zero-peak communities electric utility benefits" focuses on progress by ORNL scientists and engineers toward constructing houses that provide as much anergy as they consume. Dr. Blasing is calculating demonstrable CO₂ emissions reductions resulting from the houses constructed and evaluated to date. Jeff Christian, of the Buildings Technology Center, Engineering Science and Technology Division, is the leader of this ORNL interdisciplinary effort.
   

November 2007

• CDIAC is posting an update to NDP-055, Tropical Africa: Land Use, Biomass, and Carbon Estimates for 1980. The new dataset is titled: "Geographical Distribution of Woody Biomass Carbon in Tropical Africa: An Updated Database for 2000" and accounts for land cover changes through the year 2000. The Global Land Cover 2000 (GLC2000) database was used to derive forest distribution in the year 2000, and CIESIN's Gridded Population of the World data set provided more current population estimates to use in the analysis. NDP-055b was created using the methods and statistical relationships developed for ndp055.
   
  These data were prepared by Holly K. Gibbs and Sandra Brown, and are available at: http://cdiac.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/ndp055/ndp055b.html.
   
• In April 2007 a group of CO₂ researchers, including Bob Andres and T.J. Blasing of CDIAC, met at the High Resolution Fossil Fuel Emissions Workshop at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, to specify research needs and goals and to strategize collaboration. The group formed the CO₂ Fossil Fuel Emission Effort (CO₂FFEE) and outlined a research agenda to meet the need for improved fossil fuel CO₂ emissions information. The group agreed upon a set of goals, needs, and strategies for improving the spatial and temporal resolution of fossil-fuel carbon dioxide emissions and stressed the need to know about processes producing the emissions, so the results will be useful to regulators and policy makers as well as to scientists trying to understand the global carbon cycle. This effort is described in the December 2007 issue of EOS, the American Geophysical Union newsletter (Volume 88, number 49, pp. 542-543).
   

October 2007

• A 5-Year Meteorological Record for the Fresno Supersite was released on October 30, 2007. This data set contains measurements taken by meteorological instruments operated at the Fresno Supersite from 5/24/2000 to 12/31/2006. Data include 5 minute average results for ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, and solar radiation. Each data file reports 6 months of measurements. Time series plots of each parameter in a file are also available. These measurements were sponsored initially by U.S. EPA Supersites Program and more recently by NOAA and CARB Long Term Monitoring—Fresno.
   

September 2007

• CDIAC has updated the popular Marland et al. "Global, Regional, and National Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions" time series through 2004.
   
  Since 1751 roughly 315 billion tons of carbon have been released to the atmosphere from the consumption of fossil fuels and cement production. Half of these emissions have occurred since the mid 1970s. The 2004 global fossil-fuel CO₂ emission estimate, 7910 million metric tons of carbon, represents an all-time high and a 5.4% increase from 2003.
   
  Nationally, the United States and China are the largest consumers of fossil-fuels, emitting 1.65 and 1.37 billion metric tons of carbon during 2004, respectively.
   
  For a quick update on how the emissions updates relate to the Kyoto Protocol, readers are directed to the brief summary of Annex B countries versus non-Annex B countries.
   
• CDIAC has published the NDP-088: "Global Ocean Surface Water Partial Pressure of CO₂ Database: Measurements Performed During 1968 - 2006 (Version 1.0)".
  
  More than 3 million measurements of surface water partial pressure of CO₂ obtained over the global oceans during 1968 - 2006 are listed in the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) database, which includes open ocean and coastal water measurements. The data assembled include only those measured by equilibrator-CO₂ analyzer systems and have been quality-controlled based on the stability of the system performance, the reliability of calibrations for CO₂ analysis, and the internal consistency of data. To allow re-examination of the data in the future, a number of measured parameters relevant to pCO₂ measurements are listed. The overall uncertainty for the pCO₂ values listed is estimated to be ± 2.5 μatm on the average.
   
  The data presented in this database include the analyses of partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂), sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), pressure of the equilibration, and barometric pressure in the outside air from the ship's observation system. The global pCO₂ data set is available free of charge as a numeric data package (NDP) from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC). The NDP consists of the data file, metadata file, and this printed documentation, which describes the procedures and methods used to obtain the data.
   

August 2007

• CDIAC is posting an update to Olson's Major World Ecosystem Complexes Ranked by Carbon in Live Vegetation Database. These data are widely used and cited in carbon cycle research.
  
  This updated database extends the methodology of Olson et al. to more contemporary land cover conditions using the Global Land Cover Database (GLC2000). The GLC2000 data were developed using remotely sensed imagery acquired in 2000. The updated data are presented in a GIS format and include estimates of mean and maximum carbon density values.
   
  These data were prepared by Holly K. Gibbs of the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) and Lisa Olsen (CDIAC) and are available at: http://cdiac.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/ndp017/ndp017b.html.
   

July 2007

• The AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) data have been updated through September 2006, except for CFC-113 data at Barbados (through September 2005) and Mace Head, Ireland (through Mar. 2006). Additionally, methyl bromide (CH₃Br) data are now available at Mace Head, Ireland, through 2004. Four species: sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆), CFC-113 (CCl₂FCClF₂), chloroform (CHCl₃), and methyl chloroform (CH₃CCl₃) have been added to the data obtained using the "Medusa" cold-air trap which effectively reduces spectral interference from less volatile compounds. The Medusa data from the latest American Samoa station (May 2006 onward) are also available in this update.
   
  We thank Ray Wang and others on the AGAGE team for continuing to provide this important trace-gas data in a timely fashion.
   
• The Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative (SAMI) Final Reports and Data Products are now available to the public on the NARSTO QSSC FTP site. SAMI was a voluntary partnership of state and federal agencies, industry, environmental groups, academia, and interested public established in 1992 to identify and recommend air emissions management strategies to remedy existing and prevent future adverse air quality impacts to natural resources in Southern Appalachia. Particular focus is on Class I national park and wilderness areas. SAMI's nearly decade-long integrated assessment focused simultaneously on ozone, visibility impairment, and acid deposition. Computer models linked emissions, atmospheric transport, exposures, and environmental and socioeconomic effects. The assessment considered the impacts of existing and newly enacted federal air regulatory requirements and alternative emissions management strategies that SAMI recommended for regional, state, and community-based actions.
   
  SAMI was unique in providing a regional forum for consensus-based decisions for both the assessment design and policy recommendations. The State representatives were the voting members of the Operations Committee and Governing Body; representatives of the states, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Federal Land Management agencies, industry, environmental organizations, and academia participated on all SAMI committees and subcommittees. Although policy decisions may be slower in a consensus-based forum, the collaborative discussions generated broadly supported recommendations for regional, state, and or community-based actions.
   

June 2007

• 2005-2006 pCO₂ data measured in the Caribbean by the Cruise Ship (C/S) Explorer of the Seas are now available to public through CDIAC. The measurements were conducted as part of the Global Volunteer Observing Ship (VOS) Program and submitted to CDIAC by scientists from NOAA/AOML CO₂ group (Rik Wanninkhof - PI).
   
  On October 28, 2000 Royal Caribbean International's newest ship, the Explorer of the Seas, began weekly cruises through the Caribbean from Miami. This ship is unique in that it is outfitted with state-of-the-art oceanographic and atmospheric laboratories. It represents an unprecedented collaboration between Royal Caribbean International, the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In February 2002, the Global Carbon Group at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) installed an instrument to measure CO₂ in surface water in the Ocean Lab on Explorer of the Seas. The instrument takes 20 measurements every hour while the ship is underway. Every week the data is downloaded and quality controlled at AOML (usually by the middle of the week). The data from 2006 cruises will be available to public in August 2007.
   

May 2007

• Radiosonde Temperature Anomalies in the Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere for the Globe, Hemispheres, and Latitude Zones, by A. M. Sterin of the Russian Research Institute for Hydrometeorological Information-World Data Center in Obninsk, have been updated through September of 2005. Documentation and analysis of these data have been significantly expanded.
   
• The original CARINA (CArbon IN the Atlantic) project cruises data and metadata are now available to the public from CDIAC at http://cdiac.ornl.gov/oceans/CARINA/Carina_inv.html through the CARINA Cruise Summary Table Data link and Mercury. Objectives of CARINA are:
   
  • to bring together research groups that measure CO₂ in the Atlantic Ocean;
  • to create an inventory of CO₂-measurements carried out in the Atlantic Ocean;
  • to make available also yet unpublished data to the public;
  • to form working groups, that cooperate on various aspects of the CO₂ system in the Atlantic;
  • to exchange actual information concerning CO₂ research in the Atlantic and assist in future cooperation;
  • to complete a synthesis of all CO₂ and other parameters in the Atlantic Ocean; and
  • the final CARINA database will be available in the GLODAP-like format through CDIAC via WAVES, LAS, and Mercury.