Five years of carbon dioxide fluxes measurements in a highly vegetated suburban area

Suburban areas continue to grow rapidly and are potentially an important land-use category for anthropogenic carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions. Here eddy covariance techniques are used to obtain ecosystem-scale measurements of CO2 fluxes (FC) from a suburban area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA (2002–2006). These are among the first multi-year measurements of FC in a suburban area. The study area is characterized by low population density (1500 inhabitants km−2) and abundant vegetation (67.4% vegetation land-cover). FC is correlated with photosynthetic active radiation (PAR), soil temperature, and wind direction. Missing hourly FC is gap-filled using empirical relations between FC, PAR, and soil temperature. Diurnal patterns show net CO2 emissions to the atmosphere during winter and net CO2 uptake by the surface during summer daytime hours (summer daily total is −1.25 g C m−2 d−1). Despite the large amount of vegetation the suburban area is a net CO2 source of 361 g C m−2 y−1 on average.

Research highlights
► Eddy covariance measurements of CO2 fluxes (FC) for suburban Baltimore (2002–06).
► Among the first multi-year measurements of FC in a suburban area.
► Area: low population (1500 inhabitants km−2) and abundant vegetation (67.4%).
► Source of CO2 (winter) and sink in summer (summer daily total −1.25 g C m−2 d−1).
► Despite large amount of vegetation: net source of CO2 (361 g C m−2 y−1 mean).