CAREER: Constraining Land Carbon Uptake on Regional and Global Scales by Enabling the Interpretation of Two Decades of Trace Gas Measurements

该项目旨在开发利用现有和正在进行的一氧化碳(COS)观测来估计包括二氧化碳(CO2)在内的碳示踪气体交换的方法，以便更好地了解树木凋落物对森林内碳循环的影响。这是朝着增加我们对碳循环的理解迈出的重要一步，通过该项目过程中获得的知识将增强我们理解和预测碳循环变化对气候变化和生态系统的影响的能力。此外，研究小组将与当地一名高中教师合作开展高中水平的凋落物分类活动，这将为学生提供与现实世界科学研究相关的动手体验。这项工作的两个具体目标包括：(1)区分森林地被物不同成分对COS痕量气体交换的影响；(2)整合林下COS通量对生态系统和区域尺度植物功能证据的重要性。这项工作力求包括收集塔面通量测量、处理这些塔面尺度测量的遥感和清点数据、对COS表面通量进行拉格朗日反演以及确定以前未知的COS通量。这项工作还包括当地一名高中教师为期8周的访问，以制定垃圾分类活动，然后将在附近的其他学校实施。此外，四名当地高中生将被邀请参加罗格斯大学研究密集暑期体验(RISE)项目为期6周的暑期实习。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project seeks to develop methods for using existing and ongoing carbonyl sulfide (COS) observations to estimate carbon tracer gas exchange, including carbon dioxide (CO2) in order to better understand the effect of tree litter on carbon cycling within forests. This is an important step toward increasing our understanding of the carbon cycle, and the knowledge gained through the course of this project will enhance our ability to understand and project the impact of changes to the carbon cycle on climate change and the ecosystem. Additionally, the research team will work with a local high school teacher to develop a high school-level leaf litter sorting activity, which will provide students with hands-on experience related to real-world scientific research.The two specific aims of this work include: (1) to distinguish the influence of different components of forest ground cover on the trace gas exchange of COS; and (2) to integrate the importance of understory COS fluxes on ecosystem- and regional-scale evidence of plant functioning. This work seeks to include the collection of tower flux measurements, the processing of remote sensing and inventory data for these tower-scale measurements, Lagrangian inversions for COS surface fluxes, and the identification of previously unknown COS fluxes. This work also includes an 8-week visit from a local high school teacher to develop a litter-sorting activity, which will then be implemented at other nearby schools. Additionally, four local high school students will be invited for 6-week summer internships in the Rutgers Research Intensive Summer Experience (RISE) program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.