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2.6. CARBON CYCLE GROUP 81
2.6 Carbon Cycle Group
Ingeborg Levin
Group members
Samuel Hammer (PhD), Renate Heinz (Techn.), Ingeborg Levin (GL), Tobias Naegler (Post Doc),
Michael Sabasch (Techn.), Sebastian Schmitt (Dipl.), Cordelia Veidt (PhD), Felix Vogel (PhD, since
Nov. 2005)
Abstract
High precision greenhouse gases observations (CO2, CH4, N2O, H2O), together with their isotope
ratios as well as related tracer (CO, H2, SF6, 222 Radon) measurements are performed on the global,
continental and regional scale. These measurements are used in combination with regional and trajectory
models to study respective source and sink processes and with global box models to investigate
their global budgets.
H 2 [ppb]
550
500
450
400
Neumayer
Alert
01.01.2004 01.01.2005 01.01.2006 01.01.2007
Date
Figure 2.43: Measurements of atmospheric molecular Hydrogen on flask samples collected in high
northern (Alert, Canadian Arctic) and high southern latitudes (Neumayer Station, Antarctica). Mixing
ratios are generally higher in the southern hemisphere than in the north because one of the major
sinks of atmospheric molecular hydrogen is uptake by soils (see Hammer and Levin, Section 2.6.1 and
Schmitt and Hammer, Section 2.6.4 in this issue).
Overarching topic
Investigation of the regional and global biogeochemical cycles of CO2, CH4, H2 and N2O.
Background
Increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are a major player in Earth climate change; quantitatively
understanding the causes of this increase is an indispensable pre-requisite for future climate
prognoses. The most reliable information on the bio-geochemical cycles of greenhouse gases come from
long term atmospheric observations combined with modelling. The Heidelberg Carbon Cycle Group