RADIOCARBON AND ATMOSPHERIC 14CO2 PIONEER ATHOL RAFTER

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Jocelyn C Turnbull ◽  
Dave C Lowe ◽  
Martin R Manning ◽  
Rodger Sparks
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Soil Science ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Atom Bomb ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon ◽  
Tracer Experiments

ABSTRACT Direct atmospheric 14CO2 measurements began in New Zealand in 1954, initially to improve 14C as a dating tool, but quickly evolving into a method for understanding the carbon cycle. These early 14CO2 measurements immediately demonstrated the existence of an “Atom Bomb Effect,” as well as an “Industrial Effect.” These two gigantic tracer experiments have been utilized via 14CO2 measurements over the years to produce a wealth of knowledge in multiple research fields including atmospheric carbon cycle research, oceanography, soil science, and aging of post-bomb materials.

scholarly journals The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2: first 18 months of science data products

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 549-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annmarie Eldering ◽  
Chris W. O'Dell ◽  
Paul O. Wennberg ◽  
David Crisp ◽  
Michael R. Gunson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Retrieval Algorithm ◽  
Science Data ◽  
The North ◽  
Data Products ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon

Abstract. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) is the first National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) satellite designed to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) with the accuracy, resolution, and coverage needed to quantify CO2 fluxes (sources and sinks) on regional scales. OCO-2 was successfully launched on 2 July 2014 and has gathered more than 2 years of observations. The v7/v7r operational data products from September 2014 to January 2016 are discussed here. On monthly timescales, 7 to 12 % of these measurements are sufficiently cloud and aerosol free to yield estimates of the column-averaged atmospheric CO2 dry air mole fraction, XCO2, that pass all quality tests. During the first year of operations, the observing strategy, instrument calibration, and retrieval algorithm were optimized to improve both the data yield and the accuracy of the products. With these changes, global maps of XCO2 derived from the OCO-2 data are revealing some of the most robust features of the atmospheric carbon cycle. This includes XCO2 enhancements co-located with intense fossil fuel emissions in eastern US and eastern China, which are most obvious between October and December, when the north–south XCO2 gradient is small. Enhanced XCO2 coincident with biomass burning in the Amazon, central Africa, and Indonesia is also evident in this season. In May and June, when the north–south XCO2 gradient is largest, these sources are less apparent in global maps. During this part of the year, OCO-2 maps show a more than 10 ppm reduction in XCO2 across the Northern Hemisphere, as photosynthesis by the land biosphere rapidly absorbs CO2. As the carbon cycle science community continues to analyze these OCO-2 data, information on regional-scale sources (emitters) and sinks (absorbers) which impart XCO2 changes on the order of 1 ppm, as well as far more subtle features, will emerge from this high-resolution global dataset.

scholarly journals Impact of an extremely large magnitude volcanic eruption on the global climate and carbon cycle estimated from ensemble Earth System Model simulations

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 8693-8732 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Segschneider ◽  
A. Beitsch ◽  
C. Timmreck ◽  
V. Brovkin ◽  
T. Ilyina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Carbon Content ◽  
Volcanic Eruption ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Earth System Model ◽  
System Model ◽  
Carbon Pools ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Ensemble Mean ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon

Abstract. The response of the global climate-carbon cycle system to an extremely large Northern Hemisphere mid latitude volcanic eruption is investigated using ensemble integrations with the comprehensive Earth System Model MPI-ESM. The model includes dynamical compartments of the atmosphere and ocean and interactive modules of the terrestrial biosphere as well as ocean biogeochemistry. The MPI-ESM was forced with anomalies of aerosol optical depth and effective radius of aerosol particles corresponding to a super eruption of the Yellowstone volcanic system. The model experiment consists of an ensemble of fifteen model integrations that are started at different pre-ENSO states of a contol experiment and run for 200 yr after the volcanic eruption. The climate response to the volcanic eruption is a maximum global monthly mean surface air temperature cooling of 3.8 K for the ensemble mean and from 3.3 K to 4.3 K for individual ensemble members. Atmospheric pCO2 decreases by a maximum of 5 ppm for the ensemble mean and by 3 ppm to 7 ppm for individual ensemble members approximately 6 yr after the eruption. The atmospheric carbon content only very slowly returns to near pre-eruption level at year 200 after the eruption. The ocean takes up carbon shortly after the eruption in response to the cooling, changed wind fields, and ice cover. This physics driven uptake is weakly counteracted by a reduction of the biological export production mainly in the tropical Pacific. The land vegetation pool shows a distinct loss of carbon in the initial years after the eruption which has not been present in simulations of smaller scale eruptions. The gain of the soil carbon pool determines the amplitude of the CO2 perturbation and the long term behaviour of the overall system: an initial gain caused by reduced soil respiration is followed by a rather slow return towards pre-eruption levels. During this phase, the ocean compensates partly for the reduced atmospheric carbon content in response to the land's gain. In summary, we find that the volcanic eruption has long lasting effects on the carbon cycle: after 200 yr, the ocean and the land carbon pools are still different from the pre-eruption state, and the land carbon pools (vegetation and soil) show some long lasting local anomalies that are only partly visible in the global signal.

scholarly journals A Matter of Taste: the Fate of the Archdeacon Smythe Collection of British Watercolours in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Sippel
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Public Art ◽  
Art Gallery ◽  
Art Collections ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Low Profile ◽  
Private Collection ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The Impact

<p><b>Francis Henry Dumville Smythe, a humble clergyman from England, spent a lifetime amassing his private collection of watercolours. During the 1950s, he decided to gift them to two art institutions in New Zealand – Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the National Art Gallery in Wellington. They were welcomed with open arms and celebrated as “the finest collection of water colour pictures in the Southern Hemisphere.” However, they soon fell out of favour: rarely exhibited, the collection remains poorly understood and unexplored to this day. Was their initial praise simply a matter of taste?</b></p> <p>This project looks at the rise and fall of the Smythe collection and aims to reveal the circumstances that led to its current low profile within its respective institutions. The collection itself will be analysed in depth for the first time, and the impact that changing artistic tastes have had on its status will be examined. In New Zealand’s case, these shifting tastes are symptomatic of the redefinition of national and cultural identity during the 1950s-1980s. How did this redefined national and cultural identity contribute to the continued drop in status of the Smythe collection in New Zealand? This dissertation considers the geographical contexts of both Britain and New Zealand and seeks to explore new ways of engaging with New Zealand’s public art collections, through combining the different research fields of watercolours, taste, and identity. While British watercolours are now mostly considered old fashioned, this thesis will find new ways of making them relevant again.</p>

scholarly journals Soil Carbon Sequestration Potential and Linkages with General Flooding and Erosion Issues, Gisborne/East-Cape Region, North Island, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bridget Ellen O'Leary
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Carbon Sequestration Potential ◽  
Sequestration Potential

<p>The global carbon cycle has been significantly modified by increased human demand and consumption of natural resources. Billions of tonnes of carbon moves between the Earth’s natural spheres in any given year, with anthropogenic activities adding approximately 7.1 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon (C) to this flux. On a global basis, the sum of C in living terrestrial biomass and soils is approximately three times greater than the carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere; with the current soil organic carbon (OC) pool estimated at about 1500 Gt (Falkowski et al. 2000). With total global emissions of CO2 from soils being acknowledged as one of the largest fluxes in the carbon cycle, ideas and research into mitigating this flux are now being recognised as extremely important in terms of climate change and the reduction of green house gases (GHG) in the future. Additional co-benefits of increasing carbon storage within the soil are improvements in a soil’s structural and hydrological capacity. For example, increasing organic carbon generally increases infiltration and storage capacity of soil, with potential to reduce flooding and erosion. There are several management options that can be applied in order to increase the amount of carbon in the soil. Adjustments to land management techniques (e.g. ploughing) and also changes to cropping and vegetation type can increase organic carbon content within the subsurface (Schlesinger & Andrews, 2000). If we are able to identify specific areas of the landscape that are prone to carbon losses or have potential to be modified to store additional carbon, we can take targeted action to mitigate and apply better management strategies to these areas. This research aims to investigate issues surrounding soil carbon and the more general sustainability issues of the Gisborne/East-Cape region, North Island, New Zealand. Maori-owned land has a large presence in the region. Much of this land is described as being “marginal” in many aspects. The region also has major issues in terms of flooding and erosion. Explored within this research are issues surrounding sustainability, (including flooding, erosion, and Maori land) with particular emphasis on carbon sequestration potential and the multiple co-benefits associated with increasing the amount of carbon in the soil. This research consists of a desktop study and field investigations focusing on differences in soil type and vegetation cover/land use and what effects these differences have on soil OC content within the subsurface. Soil chemical and physical analysis was undertaken with 220 soil samples collected from two case-study properties. Particle size analysis was carried out using a laser particle sizer (LPS) to determine textural characteristics and hydraulic capacity. Soil organic carbon (OC) content was determined following the colorimetric method, wet oxidation (Blakemore et al. 1987), with results identifying large difference in soil OC quantification between sampled sites. National scale data is explored and then compared with the results from this field investigation. The direct and indirect benefits resulting from more carbon being locked up in soil may assist in determining incentives for better land-use and land management practices in the Gisborne/East-Cape region. Potentially leading to benefits for the land-user, the environment and overall general sustainability.</p>

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