Aircraft observation of carbon dioxide at 8–13 km altitude over the western Pacific from 1993 to 1999

Abstract

The spatial and temporal variations of atmospheric CO₂ at 8–13 km from April 1993 to April 1999 were observed by measuring CO₂ mixing ratios in samples collected biweekly from a commercial airliner between Australia and Japan. The CO₂ growth rate showed a considerable interannual variation, with a maximum of about 3 ppm yr⁻¹ during late 1997. This variation is related to the El Niöo/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. A year-to-year change related to the ENSO events was also found in the latitudinal distribution pattern of the CO₂ annual mean between 30°N and 30°S. The averaged CO₂ seasonal cycle in the Northern Hemisphere gradually decayed toward the equator, and a relatively complicated variation with a double seasonal maximum appeared in the Southern Hemisphere. A significant yearly change of the seasonal cycle pattern was observed in the Southern Hemisphere. The impact of a tropical biomass-burning injection on the upper tropospheric CO₂ was estimated on the basis of the CO data from the same airliner observation.