High‐Frequency Correlations Between Winds and pCO2 Change the California Coastal Upwelling System From a CO2 Sink to a Source

Abstract Net sea‐air CO2 flux can be calculated from observations of seawater and atmosphere partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and estimates of the gas transfer velocity. Typically, these quantities are calculated at a monthly resolution, which misses potentially important high‐frequency temporal varia...

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Main Authors: Ruiming Song, Tim DeVries, Renjian Li, Adrienne Sutton, Uwe Send, Helena C. Frazão
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-07-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115470
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author Ruiming Song
Tim DeVries
Renjian Li
Adrienne Sutton
Uwe Send
Helena C. Frazão
author_facet Ruiming Song
Tim DeVries
Renjian Li
Adrienne Sutton
Uwe Send
Helena C. Frazão
author_sort Ruiming Song
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Net sea‐air CO2 flux can be calculated from observations of seawater and atmosphere partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and estimates of the gas transfer velocity. Typically, these quantities are calculated at a monthly resolution, which misses potentially important high‐frequency temporal variability. Here, we calculated sea‐air CO2 flux at a 3‐hourly resolution using a 10‐year mooring data set (2011–2020) from the central California coastal upwelling region. We identified a significant flux of CO2 from the ocean to the atmosphere due to a positive correlation between seawater pCO2 and wind speed at timescales of hours to days, particularly during the late spring and early summer upwelling season. Accounting for this variability changes the region from a net sink to a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere. These findings imply that CO2 fluxes computed from monthly‐resolution data may miss important shorter‐term variability that contributes to a net outgassing of CO2 from the ocean.
format Article
id doaj-art-30c3b07fa9ff41d58ecadd45abf4d31f
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series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-30c3b07fa9ff41d58ecadd45abf4d31f2025-08-20T03:08:48ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-07-015214n/an/a10.1029/2025GL115470High‐Frequency Correlations Between Winds and pCO2 Change the California Coastal Upwelling System From a CO2 Sink to a SourceRuiming Song0Tim DeVries1Renjian Li2Adrienne Sutton3Uwe Send4Helena C. Frazão5Department of Geography University of California Santa Barbara CA USADepartment of Geography University of California Santa Barbara CA USAEarth Research Institute University of California Santa Barbara CA USAPacific Marine Environmental Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Seattle WA USAScripps Institution of Oceanography University of California San Diego La Jolla CA USAScripps Institution of Oceanography University of California San Diego La Jolla CA USAAbstract Net sea‐air CO2 flux can be calculated from observations of seawater and atmosphere partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and estimates of the gas transfer velocity. Typically, these quantities are calculated at a monthly resolution, which misses potentially important high‐frequency temporal variability. Here, we calculated sea‐air CO2 flux at a 3‐hourly resolution using a 10‐year mooring data set (2011–2020) from the central California coastal upwelling region. We identified a significant flux of CO2 from the ocean to the atmosphere due to a positive correlation between seawater pCO2 and wind speed at timescales of hours to days, particularly during the late spring and early summer upwelling season. Accounting for this variability changes the region from a net sink to a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere. These findings imply that CO2 fluxes computed from monthly‐resolution data may miss important shorter‐term variability that contributes to a net outgassing of CO2 from the ocean.https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115470carbon dioxideair‐sea exchangeCalifornia current
spellingShingle Ruiming Song
Tim DeVries
Renjian Li
Adrienne Sutton
Uwe Send
Helena C. Frazão
High‐Frequency Correlations Between Winds and pCO2 Change the California Coastal Upwelling System From a CO2 Sink to a Source
Geophysical Research Letters
carbon dioxide
air‐sea exchange
California current
title High‐Frequency Correlations Between Winds and pCO2 Change the California Coastal Upwelling System From a CO2 Sink to a Source
title_full High‐Frequency Correlations Between Winds and pCO2 Change the California Coastal Upwelling System From a CO2 Sink to a Source
title_fullStr High‐Frequency Correlations Between Winds and pCO2 Change the California Coastal Upwelling System From a CO2 Sink to a Source
title_full_unstemmed High‐Frequency Correlations Between Winds and pCO2 Change the California Coastal Upwelling System From a CO2 Sink to a Source
title_short High‐Frequency Correlations Between Winds and pCO2 Change the California Coastal Upwelling System From a CO2 Sink to a Source
title_sort high frequency correlations between winds and pco2 change the california coastal upwelling system from a co2 sink to a source
topic carbon dioxide
air‐sea exchange
California current
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115470
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