Respiration driven CO2 pulses dominate Australia's flux variability

: The Australian continent contributes substantially to the year-to-year variability of the global terrestrial carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sink. However, the scarcity of in-situ observations in remote areas prevents deciphering the processes that force the CO 2 flux variability. Here, examining atmospheric CO 2 measurements from satellites in the period 2009-2018, we find recurrent end-of-dry-season CO 2 pulses over the Australian continent. These pulses largely control the year-to-year variability of Australia's CO 2 balance, due to 2-3 times higher seasonal variations compared to previous top-down inversions and bottom-up estimates. The CO 2 pulses occur shortly after the onset of rainfall and are driven by enhanced soil respiration preceding photosynthetic uptake in Australia’s semi-arid regions. The suggested continental-scale relevance of soil rewetting processes has large implications for our understanding and modelling of global climate-carbon cycle feedbacks.

Atul K. Jain | Tokyo | Exeter | Devon | Engineering | Jena | Nasa | Nanjing | Mathematics | Boulder | France | Canberra | Maryland. | Hamburg | Urbana | Toulouse | Analysis | Canada. | College of Engineering | China | Department of Astrophysical Sciences | Japan. | Cnrs | H. Tian | S. Zaehle | B. Poulter | P. Friedlingstein | U. Maryland | D. Griffith | S. Sitch | U. Exeter | School of Materials Science | M. Jung | V. Arora | S. Basu | P. Briggs | W. Yuan | Etsushi Kato | U. Illinois | United Kingdom. | Uk | X. Yue | Lsceipsl | A. Wiltshire | D. Goll | D. Lombardozzi | J. Nabel | N. Deutscher | T. El-Madany | B. Ahrens | Usa | U. Toulouse | National Center for Atmospheric Research | G. Center | S. O. Sciences | Environment | School of Chemistry | Germany | H. University | Paris | Environmental Sciences | Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing | Climate | Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry | P. Sciences | Climate Change Canada | S. Vardag | Zhuhai | Victoria | Atmosphere | Eva-Marie Schomann | Roland S'ef'erian | A. S. I. O. Physics | Heidelberg Center for the Environment | Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center | College of Life | Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling | Climate Science Centre | Csiro Oceans | Australia | College of Electronic Engineering | Laboratoire de M'et'eorologie Dynamique | Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace | CNRS-ENS-UPMC-X | U. Saclay | CEA-CNRS-UVSQ | Institute of Applied Energy | Global Dynamics Laboratory | Max Planck Institute for Meteorology | Biospheric Sciences Laboratory | Cnrm | M'et'eo-France | International Center for Climate | Global Change Research | School of Forestry | Wildlife Sciences | A. University | Met Office Hadley Centre | Southern Marine Science | Engineering Guangdong Laboratory | Nanjing University of Information ScienceTechnology | Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry | University of Wollongong | Wollongong

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