Toward Modeling Continental‐Scale Inland Water Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Abstract Inland waters emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere; however, the global magnitude and source distribution of inland water CO2 emissions remain uncertain. These fluxes have previously been “statistically upscaled” by independently estimating dissolved CO2 concen...

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Main Authors: Brian Saccardi, Craig B. Brinkerhoff, Colin J. Gleason, Matthew J. Winnick
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-12-01
Series:AGU Advances
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001294
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author Brian Saccardi
Craig B. Brinkerhoff
Colin J. Gleason
Matthew J. Winnick
author_facet Brian Saccardi
Craig B. Brinkerhoff
Colin J. Gleason
Matthew J. Winnick
author_sort Brian Saccardi
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Inland waters emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere; however, the global magnitude and source distribution of inland water CO2 emissions remain uncertain. These fluxes have previously been “statistically upscaled” by independently estimating dissolved CO2 concentrations and gas exchange velocities to calculate fluxes. This scaling, while robust and defensible, has known limitations in representing carbon source limitations and spatial variability. Here, we develop and calibrate a CO2 transport model for the continental United States, simulating carbon transport and transformation in >22 million hydraulically connected rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. We estimate 25% lower CO2 fluxes compared to upscaling estimates forced by the same observational calibration data. While precise CO2 source distribution estimates are limited by the resolution of model parameterizations, our model suggests that stream corridor CO2 production dominates over groundwater inputs at the continental scale. Our results further suggest that the lack of observational networks for groundwater CO2 and scalable metabolic models of aquatic CO2 production remain the most salient barriers to further coupling of our model with other Earth system components.
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spelling doaj-art-c7514fdb38fe4f978f843db02d3d05822024-12-24T08:34:27ZengWileyAGU Advances2576-604X2024-12-0156n/an/a10.1029/2024AV001294Toward Modeling Continental‐Scale Inland Water Carbon Dioxide EmissionsBrian Saccardi0Craig B. Brinkerhoff1Colin J. Gleason2Matthew J. Winnick3Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences University of Massachusetts Amherst MA USADepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Massachusetts Amherst MA USADepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Massachusetts Amherst MA USADepartment of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences University of Massachusetts Amherst MA USAAbstract Inland waters emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere; however, the global magnitude and source distribution of inland water CO2 emissions remain uncertain. These fluxes have previously been “statistically upscaled” by independently estimating dissolved CO2 concentrations and gas exchange velocities to calculate fluxes. This scaling, while robust and defensible, has known limitations in representing carbon source limitations and spatial variability. Here, we develop and calibrate a CO2 transport model for the continental United States, simulating carbon transport and transformation in >22 million hydraulically connected rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. We estimate 25% lower CO2 fluxes compared to upscaling estimates forced by the same observational calibration data. While precise CO2 source distribution estimates are limited by the resolution of model parameterizations, our model suggests that stream corridor CO2 production dominates over groundwater inputs at the continental scale. Our results further suggest that the lack of observational networks for groundwater CO2 and scalable metabolic models of aquatic CO2 production remain the most salient barriers to further coupling of our model with other Earth system components.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001294inland water CO2 emissionsstream network modelcarbon fluxes
spellingShingle Brian Saccardi
Craig B. Brinkerhoff
Colin J. Gleason
Matthew J. Winnick
Toward Modeling Continental‐Scale Inland Water Carbon Dioxide Emissions
AGU Advances
inland water CO2 emissions
stream network model
carbon fluxes
title Toward Modeling Continental‐Scale Inland Water Carbon Dioxide Emissions
title_full Toward Modeling Continental‐Scale Inland Water Carbon Dioxide Emissions
title_fullStr Toward Modeling Continental‐Scale Inland Water Carbon Dioxide Emissions
title_full_unstemmed Toward Modeling Continental‐Scale Inland Water Carbon Dioxide Emissions
title_short Toward Modeling Continental‐Scale Inland Water Carbon Dioxide Emissions
title_sort toward modeling continental scale inland water carbon dioxide emissions
topic inland water CO2 emissions
stream network model
carbon fluxes
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001294
work_keys_str_mv AT briansaccardi towardmodelingcontinentalscaleinlandwatercarbondioxideemissions
AT craigbbrinkerhoff towardmodelingcontinentalscaleinlandwatercarbondioxideemissions
AT colinjgleason towardmodelingcontinentalscaleinlandwatercarbondioxideemissions
AT matthewjwinnick towardmodelingcontinentalscaleinlandwatercarbondioxideemissions