A Multiscale and Multidisciplinary Investigation of Ecosystem-Atmosphere CO sub(2) Exchange Over the Rocky Mountains of Colorado

A significant fraction of Earth consists of mountainous terrain. However, the question of how to monitor the surface-atmosphere carbon exchange over complex terrain has not been fully explored. This article reports on studies by a team of investigators from U.S. universities and research institutes who carried out a multiscale and multidisciplinary field and modeling investigation of the CO sub(2) exchange between ecosystems and the atmosphere and of CO sub(2) transport over complex mountainous terrain in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado. The goals of the field campaign, which included ground and airborne in situ and remote-sensing measurements, were to characterize unique features of the local CO sub(2) exchange and to find effective methods to measure regional ecosystem-atmosphere CO sub(2) exchange over complex terrain. The modeling effort included atmospheric and ecological numerical modeling and data assimilation to investigate regional CO sub(2)