Long-term land-atmosphere carbon monoxide exchange from a tall tower in a rural Central European region
- 1HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research (Debrecen, Hungary)
- 2HUN-REN Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science (Sopron, Hungary)
Abstract
The atmospheric trace gas carbon monoxide (CO) significantly influences the atmosphere's oxidative capacity and indirectly affects climate. However, the net land-atmosphere exchange of CO remains highly uncertain due to the scarcity of long-term monitoring. This study presents and analyses a 10-year-long CO flux data series from a tall-tower eddy covariance (EC) system operated in a rural Central European region. The measured fluxes were evaluated separately for vegetation-covered, (quasi)natural areas and for populated areas. The estimated monthly mean emissions from the populated areas varied between 12 and 110 nmolm-2s-1, with the lowest value observed in July and the highest in January, respectively. The measured wintertime emissions from the populated areas significantly exceed the activity-based estimations, presumably due to underestimated emissions factors for residential heating. The vegetation-dominated sector (agricultural fields and forests) acted as a weak net CO source from April to September with an average emission of 0.58 nmolm-2s-1 (monthly range 0.31–0.91 nmolm-2s-1), with the highest value occurring in July. The diurnal peaks of the median hourly emissions can be observed around noon, and they range from 1.59 to 2.66 nmolm-2s-1. The nighttime (20:00–04:00 local standard time (LST)) hourly median values range from −1.01 to +1.17 nmolm-2s-1. Their deviations from zero are not statistically significant at a p <0.05 probability level. Solar radiation was identified as the primary driver of CO exchange. This study also demonstrates the advantages and challenges of tall-tower EC flux measurements.
Versions
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BibTeX
@article{haszpra2026longterm,
title = {{Long-term land-atmosphere carbon monoxide exchange from a tall tower in a rural Central European region}},
author = {László Haszpra and Zoltán Barcza and Anikó Kern and Nándor Zrinyi and Natascha Kljun},
journal = {Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.5194/acp-26-14961-2026},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-14961-2026},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Long-term land-atmosphere carbon monoxide exchange from a tall tower in a rural Central European region
AU - László Haszpra
AU - Zoltán Barcza
AU - Anikó Kern
AU - Nándor Zrinyi
AU - Natascha Kljun
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
DO - 10.5194/acp-26-14961-2026
UR - https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-14961-2026
AB - The atmospheric trace gas carbon monoxide (CO) significantly influences the atmosphere's oxidative capacity and indirectly affects climate. However, the net land-atmosphere exchange of CO remains highly uncertain due to the scarcity of long-term monitoring. This study presents and analyses a 10-year-long CO flux data series from a tall-tower eddy covariance (EC) system operated in a rural Central European region. The measured fluxes were evaluated separately for vegetation-covered, (quasi)natural areas and for populated areas. The estimated monthly mean emissions from the populated areas varied between 12 and 110 nmolm-2s-1, with the lowest value observed in July and the highest in January, respectively. The measured wintertime emissions from the populated areas significantly exceed the activity-based estimations, presumably due to underestimated emissions factors for residential heating. The vegetation-dominated sector (agricultural fields and forests) acted as a weak net CO source from April to September with an average emission of 0.58 nmolm-2s-1 (monthly range 0.31–0.91 nmolm-2s-1), with the highest value occurring in July. The diurnal peaks of the median hourly emissions can be observed around noon, and they range from 1.59 to 2.66 nmolm-2s-1. The nighttime (20:00–04:00 local standard time (LST)) hourly median values range from −1.01 to +1.17 nmolm-2s-1. Their deviations from zero are not statistically significant at a p <0.05 probability level. Solar radiation was identified as the primary driver of CO exchange. This study also demonstrates the advantages and challenges of tall-tower EC flux measurements.
SN - 1680-7324
SN - 1680-7316
ER -