540 / 2024-09-18 11:14:34

Near-real-time monitoring of global ocean carbon sink

near-real-time,ocean,carbon sink

The ocean plays a critical role in modulating climate change by absorbing about 25% of the anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Timely and geographically detailed estimates of the global ocean-atmosphere CO2 flux provide an important constraint on the global carbon budget, offering insights into temporal changes and regional variations in the global carbon cycle. However, previous estimates of the ocean carbon sink have typically a 1 year delay, and cannot monitor the very recent changes in the global ocean carbon sink. Here we present a near-real-time, monthly grid-based dataset of global surface ocean fugacity of CO2 and ocean-atmosphere CO2 flux data from January 2022 to April 2024, called Carbon Monitor Ocean (CMO-NRT). The data have been derived by updating the estimates from 8 Global Ocean Biogeochemical Models and 8 data products in the Global Carbon Budget 2022 to a near-real-time framework. This is achieved by employing Convolutional Neural Networks and semi-supervised learning methods to learn the non-linear relationship between the estimates from models or products and the observed predictors. The goal of this dataset is to offer a more immediate, precise, and comprehensive understanding of the global ocean-atmosphere CO2 flux. This advancement enhances the capacity of scientists and policymakers to monitor and respond effectively to alterations in the ocean's CO2 absorption, thereby contributing significantly to climate change management.