Air-sea gas exchange

The transport of gases between the ocean and atmosphere has profound implications for our environment and the Earth's climate. This is because the oceans are a major sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide and are also a source or sink for many other climatically active gases. There are many complex processes involved in air-sea gas exchange and understanding them is critical to future climate change scenarios.

The Air-Sea Exchange (ASE) group focuses on the processes that control gas and particle exchange between the ocean and atmosphere.

Air-sea exchange is important for the cycling of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, dimethylsulfide and ammonia. These compounds are important for our climate because they are either greenhouse gases or influence the production and growth of particles in the atmosphere that reflect solar radiation away from the Earth’s surface.

We also study the air-sea exchange processes relevant to ozone, particles and volatile organic compounds, all of which are relevant to our understanding of how the ocean influences atmospheric processing and air pollution.

We established the Penlee Point Atmospheric Observatory, an ideal platform for us to study the interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere.

Our big research questions are:

  • What are the processes at the ocean/atmosphere interface that control the air-sea transfer of gases and particles?
  • What are the key biological and chemical processes in the surface ocean that control the concentrations of climate- and pollution-relevant trace gases?
  • How are the atmospheric emissions from ships and the regulation of these emissions influencing the marine environment?

     

Making a difference

Our work helps to improve understanding of the role that the oceans play in the Earth system. We use our data within models to understand how the air-sea fluxes of gases might change in response to various future scenarios including changes in marine biota, ocean acidification, warming and other stressors. 
 

Further information

Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in working or studying within the group, forinfo@pml.ac.uk.

 

Events

PML is hosting the 8th International Symposium on Gas Transfer at Water Surfaces, 19-20 May 2020. See https://www.pml.ac.uk/GTWS2020 for further information.

Current research topics include:

Aquaculture Biodiversity Capacity development Carbon and nutrient cycles Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Earth Observation Food security Invasive species Marine plastics Marine spatial planning Modelling the Marine Environment New technologies Ocean acidification Renewable energy Valuing the marine environment

 

Key staff

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Dr Tom Bell

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Dr Frances Hopkins

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Dr Ming-Xi Yang

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Dr Tim Smyth

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Oban Jones

There is also an active group of PhD students working in the area, including: Yuanxu Dong, George Manville, Daniel Phillips, Jenny Watts, Caroline White and Charel Wohl.

Projects

ESA-SOLAS - OceanFlux Greenhouse Gases
Completed

ESA-SOLAS - OceanFlux Greenhouse Gases

Contact: Professor Philip Nightingale

Transport of gases between the ocean and the atmosphere, known as ‘air-sea gas exchange’, have profound implications for our...

Radiatively Active Gases from the North Atlantic RegiOn and Climate Change (RAGNARoCC)
Completed

Radiatively Active Gases from the North Atlantic RegiOn and Climate Change (RAGNARoCC)

Contact: Dr Vassilis Kitidis

The exchange of natural and man-made gases between the ocean and the atmosphere has profound implications for our environment. The speed of the gas...

AMT4OceanSatFlux

Atlantic Meridional Transect Ocean Flux from Satellite Campaign (AMT4OceanSatFlux)

Contact: Dr Gavin Tilstone

The AMT4OceanSatFlux project will measure the flux of carbon dioxide (CO2) between the atmosphere and the ocean utilising a state-of-the-art eddy...

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You may be interested in...

News

First direct measurement of air-sea methanol exchange

A new study by PML scientists has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) describing the first direct measurement of air-sea methanol exchange over the open ocean, along a north-south transect of the Atlantic.

News

Campaign underway to measure carbon dioxide in the Atlantic Ocean

A group of scientists are currently travelling the length of the Atlantic as part of an exciting new project to measure the flux of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) between the atmosphere and ocean.

News

Sentinel-3 and the ocean carbon conundrum

An international team of researchers, including PML scientists, is using pioneering techniques to study how carbon dioxide is transferred from the atmosphere into the oceans. 

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International gas transfer meeting

Related recent publications

  1. Shutler, JD; Wanninkhof, R; Nightingale, PD; Woolf, DK; Bakker, DCE; Watson, A; Ashton, I; Holding, T; Chapron, B; Quilfen, Y; Fairall, C; Schuster, U; Nakajima, M; Donlon, CJ. 2019 Satellites will address critical science priorities for quantifying ocean carbon. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 9, pp. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2129
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  2. Kitidis, V; Shutler, JD; Ashton, I; Warren, M; Brown, IJ; Findlay, HS; Hartman, SE; Sanders, R; Humphreys, M; Kivimäe, C; Greenwood, N; Hull, T; Pearce, D; McGrath, T; Stewart, BM; Walsham, P; McGovern, E; Bozec, Y; Gac, J-P; van Heuven, SMAC; Hoppema, M; Schuster, U; Johannessen, T; Omar, A; Lauvset, SK; Skjelvan, I; Olsen, A; Steinhoff, T; Körtzinger, A; Becker, M; Lefevre, N; Diverrès, D; Gkritzalis, T; Cattrijsse, A; Petersen, W; Voynova, YG; Chapron, B; Grouazel, A; Land, PE; Sharples, J; Nightingale, PD. 2019 Winter weather controls net influx of atmospheric CO2 on the north-west European shelf. Scientific Reports, 9 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56363-5
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  3. Woolf, DK; Shutler, JD; Goddijn‐Murphy, L; Watson, AJ; Chapron, B; Nightingale, PD; Donlon, CJ; Piskozub, J; Yelland, MJ; Ashton, I; Holding, T; Schuster, U; Girard‐Ardhuin, F; Grouazel, A; Piolle, JF; Warren, M; Wrobel‐Niedzwiecka, I; Land, PE; Torres, R; Prytherch, J; Moat, B; Hanafin, J; Ardhuin, F; Paul, F. 2019 Key Uncertainties in the Recent Air‐Sea Flux of CO 2. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GB006041
    View publication

  4. Holding, T; Ashton, IG; Shutler, JD; Land, PE; Nightingale, PD; Rees, AP; Brown, IJ; Piolle, JF; Kock, A; Bange, HW; Woolf, DK; Goddijn-Murphy, L; Pereira, R; Paul, F; Girand-Ardhuin, F; Chapron, B; Rehder, G; Ardhuin, F; Donlon, CJ. 2019 The FluxEngine air-sea gas flux toolbox: simplified interface and extensions for in situ analyses and multiple sparingly soluble gases. Ocean Science Discussions. 1-28. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2019-45 (Submitted)
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  5. Dall’Osto, M; Airs, RL; Beale, R; Cree, C; Fitzsimons, MF; Beddows, D; Harrison, RM; Ceburnis, D; O’Dowd, C; Rinaldi, M; Paglione, M; Nenes, A; Decesari, S; Simó, R. 2019 Simultaneous Detection of Alkylamines in the Surface Ocean and Atmosphere of the Antarctic Sympagic Environment. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.9b00028
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