Impact of wind speeds on turbulent transport of carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes at a tropical location in Ile - Ife, southwest Nigeria
<p>The study investigates impact of wind speeds on the turbulent transport of CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes for a land-surface atmosphere interface in a low-wind tropical area between May 28<sup>th</sup> and June 14<sup>th</sup>, 2010; and May 24<sup>th</sup> and June 15<sup>th</sup>, 2015. Eddy covariance technique was used to acquire turbulent mass fluxes of CO<sub>2</sub> and wind speed at the study site located inside the main campus of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile &#8211; Ife, Nigeria. The results showed high levels of CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes at nighttime attributed to stable boundary layer conditions and low wind speed. Large transport and distribution of CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes were observed in the early mornings due to strong wind speeds recorded at the study location. In addition, negative CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes were observed during the daytime attributed to prominent convective and photosynthetic activities. The study concludes there was an inverse relationship between turbulent transport of CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes and wind speed for daytime period while nighttime CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes showed no significant correlation.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes, Wind speed, Turbulent transport, Low-wind tropical area, Stable boundary layer</p>