Empirical estimations of CO₂ flux component over different ecosystems

Vertical CO2 fluxes are the result of the net exchange between an ecosystem and the overlying atmosphere. The complex balance among biogenic and anthropogenic components varies from site to site and can be observed by using the micrometeorological Eddy Covariance (EC) technique. Different approaches can be used then to partition the EC flux measurements in order to understand the influence of each contribution to the flux. The general aim of this PhD thesis is to relate carbon balance of different ecosystems to the main controlling factors and to look for general and empirical relations that allow to estimate CO2 flux components by using environmental variables and the percentage of vegetation cover. The work is organized into three main parts: the first is about CO2 flux partitioning over three Mediterranean sites by using literature-based empirical relations and a new combined approach. The second part is about estimating anthropogenic components of the CO2 flux. A review of empirical methods is presented, as well as the recent improvements of the processbased model ACASA and its evaluation over a suburban site. Finally, the third part combines the results of previous chapters to present a new developed empirical simple model, based on land cover fraction and environmental variables. It can simulates the daily mean trend of CO2 flux over different ecosystems, and a first validation of the biogenic module, both over a natural and a suburban site, is presented

Modelling the biogenic CO2 exchange in urban and non-urban ecosystems through the assessment of light-response curve parameters

The biogenic CO2 surface atmosphere exchange is investigated and linked to vegetation cover fraction for seven sites (three urban and four non-urban) in the northern hemisphere. The non-rectangular hyperbola (NRH) is used to analyse the light-response curves during period of maximum ecophysiological processes, and to develop two models to simulate biogenic vertical CO2 fluxes. First, a generalised set of NRH coefficients is calculated after linear regression analysis across urban and non-urban ecosystems. Second, site-specific NRH coefficients are calculated for a suburban area in Helsinki, Finland. The model includes a temperature driven equation to estimate ecosystem respiration, and variation of leaf area index to modulate emissions across the year. Eddy covariance measured CO2 fluxes are used to evaluate the two models at the suburban Helsinki site and the generalised model also in Mediterranean ecosystem. Both models can simulate the mean daily trend at monthly and seasonal scales. Modelled data typically fall within the range of variability of the observations (differences of the order of 10%). Additional information improves the models performance, notably the selection of the most vegetated wind direction in Helsinki. The general model performs reasonably well during daytime but it tends to underestimate CO2 emissions at night. This reflects the model capability to catch photosynthesis processes occurring during the day, and the importance of the gross primary production (GPP) in modifying the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of urban sites with different vegetation cover fraction. Therefore, the general model does not capture the differences in ecosystem respiration that skew nocturnal fluxes. The relation between the generalised NRH plateau parameter and vegetation cover improves (R-2 from 0.7 to 0.9) when only summer weekends with wind coming from the most vegetated sector in Helsinki and well-watered conditions for Mediterranean sites are included in the analysis. In the local model, the inclusion of a temperature driven equation for estimating the ecosystem respiration instead of a constant value, does not improve the long-term simulations. In conclusion, both the general and local models have significant potential and offer valid modelling options of biogenic components of carbon exchange in urban and non-urban ecosystems.(C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Spatial Modeling of Local-Scale Biogenic and Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Helsinki

There is a growing need to simulate the effect of urban planning on both local climate and greenhouse gas emissions. Here, a new urban surface carbon dioxide (CO2) flux module for the Surface Urban Energy and Water Balance Scheme is described and evaluated using eddy covariance observations at two sites in Helsinki in 2012. The spatial variability and magnitude of local-scale anthropogenic and biogenic CO2 flux components at high spatial (250 m x 250 m) and temporal (hourly) resolution are examined by combining high-resolution (down to 2 m) airborne lidar-derived land use data and mobility data to account for people's movement. Urban effects are included in the biogenic components parameterized using urban eddy covariance and chamber observations. Surface Urban Energy and Water Balance Scheme reproduces the seasonal and diurnal variability of the CO2 flux well. Annual totals deviate 3% from observations in the city center and 2% in a suburban location. In the latter, traffic is the dominant CO2 source but summertime vegetation partly offsets traffic-related emissions. In the city center, emissions from traffic and human metabolism dominate and the vegetation effect is minor due to the low proportion of vegetation surface cover (22%). Within central Helsinki, human metabolism accounts for 39% of the net local-scale emissions and together with road traffic is to a large extent responsible for the spatial variability of the emissions. Annually, the biogenic emissions and sinks are in near balance and thus the effect of vegetation on the carbon balance is small in this high-latitude city.Peer reviewe