Abstract
Micrometeorological fluxes measured over a tall forest in a complex terrain are difficult to interpret. $CO_2$ storage often makes significant contributions to net ecosystem exchange of $CO_2$ (NEE) in early morning and during nighttime due to calm and stable conditions. We measured the above-canopy $CO_2$ flux along with its concentration profiles at eight levels within and above the canopy to evaluate $CO_2$ storage term. Our question is whether or not the $CO_2$ storage term can be estimated accurately from a single level measurement of $CO_2$ concentration in a complex terrain. Our objectives are (1) to document vertical profiles of $CO_2$ concentration and (2) to compare the diurnal and seasonal variations of $CO_2$ storages estimated from single and multi-level $CO_2$ concentration data. Seasonally averaged Diurnal variations of $CO_2$ concentration ranged from 398 to 455 ppm near the forest floor at 0.1 m whereas they ranged from 364 to 395 ppm at 40 m in the atmosphere. The diurnal variation of vertical profiles of $CO_2$ concentration shows very interesting features with season. At all eight levels, diurnal variation of $CO_2$ concentration showed little change in winter. In spring, the diurnal variations of $CO_2$ concentration at 8 levels showed three distinct groups of layers with height: the first layer: 0.1m (near surface), second layer: 1.0 m and 4.0m (below canopy) and the third layer: 7.4m to 40.7 m (near canopy and above). In summer, these three groups of layers were further separated with larger variations whereas such distinction became smaller in fall. The diurnal variation of $CO_2$ concentration in the first three layers near surface always showed higher concentration with larger variability. Typically, $CO_2$ concentration showed peaks in early morning and in the evening. After the evening peak, $CO_2$ concentration gradually increased except for those near the surface (i.e., 0.1, 1.0 and 4.0 m) where the concentrations actually decreased. We suspect that this could be attributed to the drainage flow of $CO_2$ along the hill slope from the headwater to downstream, which is not taken into account for net ecosystem $CO_2$ exchange. In comparison to the results of other studies, the distinct and different vertical structures of $CO_2$ concentrations observed at our site may be due to complex terrain and weak turbulent mixing under calm conditions at the site. The annual mean of diurnal variation of $CO_2$ storage flux from single level ranged from -0.6 to $0.9{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$ and from multi-level from -1.2 to $1.0{\mu}\;{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$. When compared against the results from the multi-level concentrations, the storage flux estimated from a single-level concentration was generally adequate except for specific hours near sunrise and sunset. Further details and their implication will be discussed in the presentation.
(Division of Forest Ecology, Korea Forest Research Institute)
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