Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration within a narrow valley in a forested catchment area

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Forest Research

Abstract

In order to investigate atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) accumulation as a cool air pool in hilly terrain, two-dimensional cross-sectional profile of CO2 concentration and air temperature was measured for 20 days in summer in a 0.8-ha forested catchment. CO2 concentration was vertically stratified within the valley, with a slight increase near valley sidewalls compared to the valley center, except during the nights under calm or weak ambient wind conditions. In the daytime, the constantly higher CO2 concentration at the valley bottom was associated with temperature inversion below the canopy, which could suppress vertical CO2 dissipation and leaded to vertical stratification, and with limited CO2 consumption by photosynthesis due to insufficient radiation. In the nighttime, the vertical CO2 concentration difference within the valley was related to strength of temperature inversion, which was correlated with ambient wind speed. On windy nights, relatively warmer ambient wind covered the cooler valley, to form a temperature inversion, thus confining CO2 to the lower part of the valley. On calm nights, thermal lapse not the inversion layer resulted from radiative cooling of the canopy, and homogeneous CO2 concentration within the valley was observed. A large CO2 storage change within the valley was calculated compared with that of forests on flat terrain. In particular, the vertical change of CO2 storage calculated with only the center of the valley was much larger than the cross-sectional change of CO2 storage with the entire valley due to excluding of side parts of the valley with lower CO2 concentration.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Atkinson BW (1995) Orographic and stability effects on valley-side drainage flows. Boundary Layer Meteorol 75:403–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aubinet M, Heinesch B, Yernaux M (2003) Horizontal and vertical CO2 advection in a sloping forest. Boundary Layer Meteorol 108:397–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aubinet M, Berbigier P, Ch Bernhofer, Cescatti A, Feigenwinter C, Granier A, Th Grünwald, Havrankova K, Heinesch B, Longdoz B, Marcolla B, Montagnani L, Sedlak P (2005) Comparing CO2 storage and advection conditions at night at different CARBOEUROFLUX sites. Boundary Layer Meteorol 116:63–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldocchi DD, Vogel CA, Hall B (1997) Seasonal variation of carbon dioxide exchange rates above and below a boreal jack pine forest. Agric For Meteorol 83:147–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldocchi DD, Finnigan J, Wilson K, KT PauU, Falge E (2000) On measuring net ecosystem carbon exchange over tall vegetation on complex terrain. Boundary Layer Meteorol 96:257–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clements CB, Whiteman CD, Horel JD (2003) Cold-air-pool structure and evolution in a mountain basin: Peter Sinks, Utah. J Appl Meteorol 42:752–768

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doran JC, Horst TW, Whiteman CD (1990) The development and structure of nocturnal slope winds in a simple valley. Boundary Layer Meteorol 52:41–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eugster W, Siegrist F (2000) The influence of nocturnal CO2 advection on CO2 flux measurements. Basic Appl Ecol 1:177–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feigenwinter C, Bernhofer C, Vogt R (2004) The influence of advection on the short term CO2 budget in and above forest canopy. Boundary Layer Meteorol 113:201–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Froelich NJ, Schmid HP (2006) Flow divergence and density flows above and below a deciduous forests. Part II. Below-canopy thermotopographic flows. Agric For Meteorol 138:29–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goulden ML, Munger JW, Fan S-M, Daube BC, Wofsy SC (1996) Measurements of carbon sequestration by long-term eddy covariance: methods and a critical evaluation of accuracy. Glob Change Biol 2:169–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollinger DY, Kelliher FM, Schulze ED, Bauer G, Ameth A, Byers JN, Hunt JE, McSeveny TM, Kobak KI, Milukova I, Socatchev A, Tatarinov F, Varlargin A, Ziegler W, Vygodskaya NN (1998) Forest-atmosphere carbon dioxide exchange in eastern Siberia. Agric For Meteorol 90:291–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis PG, Massheder JM, Hale SE, Moncrieff JB, Rayment M, Scott SL (1997) Seasonal variation of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy exchanges of a boreal black spruce forest. J Geophys Res 102:28953–28966

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kellomäki S, Wang K-Y (2000) Short-term environmental controls on carbon dioxide flux in a boreal coniferous forest: model computation compared with measurements by eddy covariance. Ecol Modell 128:63–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King CW (1989) Representativeness of single vertical wind profiles for determining volume flux in valleys. J Appl Meteorol 28:463–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kominami Y, Miyama T, Tamai K, Nobuhiro T, Goto Y (2003) Characteristics of CO2 flux over a forest on complex topography. Tellus B 55:313–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumagai K, Kuraji K, Noguchi H, Tanaka Y, Tanaka K, Suzuki M (2001) Vertical profiles of environmental factors within tropical forest, Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia. J For Res 6:257–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahrt L, Lee X, Black A, Neumann H, Staebler RM (2000) Nocturnal mixing in a forest subcanopy. Agric For Meteorol 101:67–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahrt L, Vickers D, Nakamura R, Soler MR, Sun J, Burns S, Lenschow DH (2001) Shallow drainage flows. Boundary Layer Meteorol 101:243–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKee TB, O’Neal RD (1989) The role of valley geometry and energy budget in the formation of nocturnal valley winds. J Appl Meteorol 28:445–456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitsuda Y, Ito S (2003) Analysis of the effects of natural and social environment on land-type using the national land numerical information: a case study in Miyazaki Prefecture. Bull Int Assoc Landsc Ecol Jpn 8:23–31 (in Japanese with English summary)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mursch-Radlgruber E (1995) Observations of flow structure in a small forested valley system. Theor Appl Climatol 52:3–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pypker TG, Unsworth MH, Lamb B, Allwine E, Edburg S, Sulzman E, Mix AC, Bond BJ (2007) Cold air drainage in a forested valley: Investigating the feasibility of monitoring ecosystem metabolism. Agric For Meteorol 145:149–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shuttleworth WJ, Gash JHC, Lloyd CR, Moore CJ, Roberts J, Filho A, Fisch G, Filho V, Ribeiro M, Molion L, Abreu de Sa L, Nobre J, Cabral O, Patel S, de Moraes C (1985) Daily variations of temperature and humidity within and above Amazonian forest. Weather 40:102–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Staebler RM, Fitzjarrald DR (2004) Observing subcanopy CO2 advection. Agr For Meteorol 122:139–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun J, Burns SP, Delany AC, Oncley SP, Turnipseed AA, Stephens BB, Lenschow DH, LeMone MA, Monson RK, Anderson DE (2007) CO2 transport over complex terrain. Agric For Meteorol 145:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiteman CD, Allwine KJ, Fritschen LJ, Orgill MM, Simpson JR (1989) Deep valley radiation and surface energy budget microclimates. Part II: energy budget. J Appl Meteorol Clim 28:427–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wofsy SC, Goulden ML, Munger JW, Fan S-M, Bakwin PS, Daube BC, Bassow SL, Bazzaz FA (1993) Net exchange of CO2 in a mid-latitude forest. Science 260:1314–1317

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Xu L-K, Matista AA, Hsiao TC (1999) A technique for measuring CO2 and water vapor profiles within and above plant canopies over short periods. Agric For Meteorol 94:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yi C, Monson RK, Zhai Z, Anderson DE, Lamb B, Allwine G, Turnipseed AA, Burns SP (2005) Modeling and measuring the nocturnal drainage flow in high-elevation, subalpine forest with complex terrain. J Geophys Res 110:D22303

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to Koichiro Gyokusen, Yuji Kominami, Atsushi Kume, Takafumi Miyama, Hideaki Shibata, and Kentaro Takagi for their advice and assistance in designing the measurement system, and two anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 14704014) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, 11300 Tano-cho, Miyazaki, 889-1702, Japan

    Masahiro Takagi

Authors
  1. Masahiro Takagi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masahiro Takagi.

About this article

Cite this article

Takagi, M. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration within a narrow valley in a forested catchment area. J For Res 14, 286–295 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-009-0138-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-009-0138-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation