ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-12-2969-2012 A conceptual framework to quantify the influence of convective boundary layer development on carbon dioxide mixing ratios Pino D. 1 Vilà-Guerau de Arellano J. 2 Peters W. 2 Schröter J. 2 van Heerwaarden C. C. 3 Krol M. C. 2 Applied Physics Department, BarcelonaTech (UPC) and Institute for Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC-UPC), Barcelona, Spain Meteorology and Air Quality Section, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany 26 03 2012 12 6 2969 2985 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/2969/2012/acp-12-2969-2012.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/2969/2012/acp-12-2969-2012.pdf

Interpretation of observed diurnal carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) mixing ratios near the surface requires knowledge of the local dynamics of the planetary boundary layer. In this paper, we study the relationship between the boundary layer dynamics and the CO<sub>2</sub> budget in convective conditions through a newly derived set of analytical equations. From these equations, we are able to quantify how uncertainties in boundary layer dynamical variables or in the morning CO<sub>2</sub> distribution in the mixed-layer or in the free atmosphere (FA) influence the bulk CO<sub>2</sub> mixing ratio. <br></br> We find that the largest uncertainty incurred on the mid-day CO<sub>2</sub> mixing ratio comes from the prescribed early morning CO<sub>2</sub> mixing ratios in the stable boundary layer, and in the free atmosphere. Errors in these values influence CO<sub>2</sub> mixing ratios inversely proportional to the boundary layer depth (<i>h</i>), just like uncertainties in the assumed initial boundary layer depth and surface CO<sub>2</sub> flux. The influence of uncertainties in the boundary layer depth itself is one order of magnitude smaller. If we "invert" the problem and calculate CO<sub>2</sub> surface exchange from observed or simulated CO<sub>2</sub> mixing ratios, the sensitivities to errors in boundary layer dynamics also invert: they become linearly proportional to the boundary layer depth. <br></br> We demonstrate these relations for a typical well characterized situation at the Cabauw site in The Netherlands, and conclude that knowledge of the temperature and carbon dioxide profiles of the atmosphere in the early morning are of vital importance to correctly interpret observed CO<sub>2</sub> mixing ratios during midday.

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