Sea–air flux of CO2 in the Caribbean Sea estimated using in situ and remote sensing data

Empirical relationships between sea surface carbon dioxide fugacity (fCO2sw) and sea surface temperature (SST) were applied to datasets of remotely sensed SST to create fCO2sw fields in the Caribbean Sea. SST datasets from different sensors were used, as well as the SST fields created by optimum interpolation of bias corrected AVHRR data. Empirical relationships were derived using shipboard fCO2sw data, in situ SST data, and SST data from the remote sensing platforms. The results show that the application of a relationship based on shipboard SST data, on fields of remotely sensed SST yields biased fCO2sw values. This bias is reduced if the fCO2sw–SST relationships are derived using the same SST data that are used to create the SST fields. The fCO2sw fields found to best reproduce observed fCO2sw are used in combination with wind speed data from QuikSCAT to create weekly maps of the sea–air CO2 flux in the Caribbean Sea in 2002. The region to the SW of Cuba was a source of CO2 to the atmosphere throughout 2002, and the region to the NE was a sink during winter and spring and a source during summer and fall. The net uptake of CO2 in the region was doubled when potential skin layer effects on fCO2sw were taken into account.