[ESAC Student Seminar] Timur Cinay

“Constraining marine nitrous oxide fluxes from the eastern tropical Pacific using direct atmospheric measurements and Bayesian inverse modeling techniques”

Nitrous oxide, N2O, is a potent greenhouse gas emitted by anthropogenic activities as well as natural marine and land-based sources with complex biogeochemistry. Current atmospheric N2O monitoring networks of tall towers and flask measurements do not cover a significant hot spot of marine N2O fluxes to the atmosphere in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. To explore spatiotemporal trends in marine emissions from the oxygen minimum zones, we established a long-term nitrous oxide monitoring station at the Galapagos Islands, expanding the existing global nitrous oxide measurement network. We present the first year of high-frequency and continuous tall tower measurements of N2O from the newly established Galapagos Emissions Monitoring Station (GEMS) in this region. Additionally, we employ Lagrangian particle dispersion models and hierarchical Bayesian inverse methods to link the station’s observations with spatially resolved marine fluxes. During the first year of observations, our estimates demonstrate up to 50% reduction in marine and terrestrial nitrous oxide emissions due to the 2023 El Niño event. Compared to prior climatological flux estimates, the inverse model reduces the uncertainty by 21% over the Eastern Tropical South Pacific oxygen minimum zone.

ESAC Student Seminar Series —

A forum for students and postdocs to share recent research, hone presentation skills, and build community among peers, sponsored by the EAPS Student Advisory Committee. Open to current EAPS graduate and undergraduate students and postdocs. Typically hosted on Thursdays during the semester, including pizza lunch.

Contact: esac.officers@gmail.com