Influence of meteorological parameters on atmospheric CO2 at Bharati, the Indian Antarctic research station

  • Mahesh Pathakoti Atmospheric Chemistry and Processes Studies Division, Earth and Climate Science Area, National Remote Sensing Centre, Indian Space Research Organization
  • Sreenivas Gaddamidi Department of Physics, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University
  • Biswadip Gharai Atmospheric Chemistry and Processes Studies Division, Earth and Climate Science Area, National Remote Sensing Centre
  • Prijith Sudhakaran Syamala Atmospheric Chemistry and Processes Studies Division, Earth and Climate Science Area, National Remote Sensing Centre
  • Pamaraju Venkata Narasimha Rao Atmospheric Chemistry and Processes Studies Division, Earth and Climate Science Area, National Remote Sensing Centre
  • Saroj Bandh Choudhury Atmospheric Chemistry and Processes Studies Division, Earth and Climate Science Area, National Remote Sensing Centre
  • Kaila Venkata Raghavendra Programme Planning Evaluation Group, National Remote Sensing Centre
  • Vinay Kumar Dadhwal Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology
Keywords: Carbon dioxide, Li-Cor CO2/H2O analyser, precipitation, relative humidity, wind speed, longrange air-mass transport

Abstract

During the 35th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica, measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) were carried out using a Li-Cor CO 2 /H 2 O analyser at Bharati, the Indian Antarctic research station. This study examines the short-term variability of atmospheric CO 2 during the austral summer (January–February) of 2016. An average of 396.25 ± 4.20 ppm was observed during the study period. Meteorological parameters such as relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed, air temperature and atmospheric boundary layer height in conjunction with photosynthetically active radiation, the biological activity indicator which modulates atmospheric CO 2 concentration have been investigated. High wind speed (>20 m s −1 ) combined with precipitation scavenges CO 2 in the atmosphere, resulting in low concentrations at the study site. The lowest CO 2 concentration of 385 ppm coincided with heavy precipitation of 15 mm during study period. Statistical analysis of the data shows that precipitation and relative humidity independently correlated 55% (r = −0.55) and 32% (r = −0.32), respectively, with the variability of CO 2 mixing in the atmosphere at the study site. Atmospheric CO 2 was significantly correlated with precipitation alone with a p value of 0.003. Further, multiple regression analysis was performed to test the significant relation between variability of atmospheric CO 2 and meteorological parameters. Long-range air-mass transport analysis depicted that the majority of the air masses are reaching the study site through the oceanic region.

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Published
2018-03-13
How to Cite
Pathakoti M., Gaddamidi S., Gharai B., Sudhakaran Syamala P., Venkata Narasimha Rao P., Choudhury S. B., Venkata Raghavendra K., & Dadhwal V. K. (2018). Influence of meteorological parameters on atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub&gt; at Bharati, the Indian Antarctic research station. Polar Research, 37. Retrieved from https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2690
Section
Research Articles