Modelling ocean carbon cycle with a nonlinear convolution model
Open Access
- 1 February 1996
- journal article
- Published by Stockholm University Press in Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology
- Vol. 48 (1) , 3-12
- https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0889.1996.00002.x
Abstract
A nonlinear convolution integral is developed to model the response of the ocean carbon sink to changes in the atmospheric concentration of CO2. This model can accurately represent the atmospheric response of complex ocean carbon cycle models in which the nonlinear behavior stems from the nonlinear dependence of CO2 solubility in seawater on CO2 partial pressure, which is often represented by the buffer factor. The kernel of the nonlinear convolution model can be constructed from a response of such a complex model to an arbitrary change in CO2 emissions, along with the functional dependence of the buffer factor. Once the convolution kernel has been constructed, either analytically or from a model experiment, the convolution representation can be used to estimate responses of the ocean carbon sink to other changes in the atmospheric concentration of CO2. Thus the method can be used, e.g., to explore alternative emissions scenarios for assessments of climate change. A derivation for the nonlinear convolution integral model is given, and the model is used to reproduce the response of two carbon cycle models: a one-dimensional diffusive ocean model, and a three-dimensional ocean-general-circulation tracer model. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0889.1996.00002.xKeywords
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