The Exchange of Energy, Water and Carbon Dioxide Between Wet Arctic Tundra and the Atmosphere at the Lena River Delta, Northern Siberia
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The Exchange of Energy, Water and Carbon Dioxide between Wet Arctic Tundra and the Atmosphere at the Lena River Delta, Northern Siberia Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Naturwissenschaften im Fachbereich Geowissenschaften der Universität Hamburg vorgelegt von Lars Kutzbach aus Husum Hamburg 2006 Als Dissertation angenommen vom Fachbereich Geowissenschaften der Universität Hamburg auf Grund der Gutachten von Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Pfeiffer und Prof. Dr. Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten Hamburg, den 31.01.2006 Prof. Dr. Kay-Christian Emeis Dekan des Fachbereichs Geowissenschaften Diese Dissertation ist neben der digitalen Form auch in Druckform veröffentlicht: Kutzbach, Lars (2006): Berichte zur Polar- und Meeresforschung, 541. Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Am Handelshafen 12, D-27570 Bremerhaven, Deutschland. ISSN 1618-3193, 157 S.. Contents Contents I SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... III II ZUSAMMENFASSUNG ..................................................................................................V III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................VII IV LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... IX V LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ IX VI LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS .........................................................XII 1 INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES........................................................ 1 2 INVESTIGATION AREA ............................................................................... 6 2.1 The Lena River Delta............................................................................................6 2.2 Samoylov Island.....................................................................................................7 2.3 The Climate..........................................................................................................11 3 METHODS...................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Eddy Covariance Measurements .......................................................................13 3.3.1 General Set-up ................................................................................................13 3.3.2 The Sonic Anemometer ..................................................................................17 3.3.3 The Infrared Gas Analyser for CO2 and H2O (IRGA)....................................18 3.3.4 Processing of Eddy Covariance Fluxes...........................................................20 3.2 Supporting Meteorological Measurements.......................................................23 3.3 Soil-Meteorological Measurements ...................................................................26 3.4 Model Approaches...............................................................................................30 3.4.1 Evaluation of the Energy Balance...................................................................30 3.4.2 Modelling of Latent and Sensible Heat Fluxes...............................................32 3.4.3 Modelling of the CO2 Budget .........................................................................35 4 RESULTS........................................................................................................ 38 4.1 Meteorological Conditions..................................................................................38 4.1.1 Overview of the Years 2003 and 2004 ...........................................................38 4.1.2 The Campaign 2003........................................................................................39 4.1.3 The Campaign 2004........................................................................................42 I Contents 4.2 Wind and Turbulence Characteristics ..............................................................44 4.3 Energy Fluxes ......................................................................................................49 4.3.1 Time Series of the Energy Fluxes 2003 and 2004 ..........................................49 4.3.2 Influence of Advection on the Energy Partitioning ........................................52 4.3.3 The Diurnal Cycle of the Energy Fluxes ........................................................54 4.3.4 Seasonal Progression of the Energy Partitioning............................................57 4.3.5 Estimated Annual Energy Budget...................................................................58 4.3.6 Energy Balance Closure..................................................................................63 4.4 Water Budget.......................................................................................................64 4.5 Carbon Dioxide Fluxes........................................................................................69 4.5.1 Time Series of CO2 Fluxes 2003 and 2004.....................................................69 4.5.2 The Diurnal Cycle of CO2 Fluxes...................................................................73 4.5.3 The Regulation of CO2 Fluxes........................................................................75 4.5.4 Seasonal CO2 Balance ....................................................................................80 4.5.5 Estimated Annual CO2 Budget .......................................................................82 5 DISCUSSION.................................................................................................. 84 5.1 The Energy and Water Balance at Wet Arctic Tundra...................................84 5.2 The Carbon Dioxide Balance of Wet Arctic Tundra .......................................97 5.2.1 The Tundra Carbon Pool under Climate Change............................................97 5.2.2 Gross Photosynthesis Pgross .............................................................................97 5.2.3 Ecosystem Respiration Reco...........................................................................102 5.2.4 Net ecosystem Exchange NEE......................................................................105 5.3 The Coupling of the CO2 Budget with the Energy and Water Balance cccc- Response to Climatic Change ........................................................................107 5.4 Perspectives........................................................................................................112 6 CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................... 115 7 REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 119 8 APPENDIX.................................................................................................... 138 A1 Correction of the H2O span adjustment factor of the IRGA............................138 A2 Model for soil thermal conductivity after deVries [1963] ...............................139 A3 Calculation of PARn-sat .....................................................................................140 II I Summary I Summary The ecosystem-scale exchange fluxes of energy, water and carbon dioxide (CO2) between wet arctic tundra and the atmosphere were investigated by the micrometeoro- logical eddy covariance method. The investigation site was situated in the centre of the Lena River Delta in Northern Siberia (72°22'N, 126°30'E). The micrometeorological campaigns were performed from July to October 2003 and from May to July 2004. The study region is characterised by a polar and distinctly continental climate, very cold and ice-rich permafrost and its position at the interface between the Eurasian continent and the Arctic Ocean. The measurements were performed on the surface of a Holocene river terrace, which is characterised by wet polygonal tundra. The soils at the site are characterised by high organic matter content, low nutrient availability and pronounced water logging. The vegetation is dominated by sedges and mosses. The fluctuations of the wind velocity components and the sonic temperature were determined with a three-dimensional sonic anemometer, and the fluctuations of the H2O and CO2 concentrations were measured with a closed-path infrared gas analyser. The measurement height was 3.65 m. The fast-response eddy covariance measurements were supplemented by a set of slow-response meteorological and soil-meteorological measurements. The relative energy balance closure was around 90 % on the hourly basis and around 96 % on the daily basis, indicating a good performance of the complete flux measurement set-up. The combined datasets of the two campaigns 2003 and 2004 were used to characterise the seasonal course of the energy, water and CO2 fluxes and the underlying processes for the synthetic measurement period May 28…October 21 2004/2003 which included the period of snow and soil thawing as well as the beginning of refreezing. The synthetic measurement period 2004/2003 was characterised by a long snow ablation period (until June 17) and a late start of the growing season. On the other hand, the growing season ended also late due to high temperatures and snow-free conditions in September. The cumulative summer (June…August) energy partitioning was characterised by low net radiation (607 MJ m-2), large ground heat flux (163 MJ m-2),