Nocturnal intermittency in surface CO2 concentrations in sub-Saharan Africa

An exploratory study of CO2 concentrations and fluxes was conducted during 2013, at a site 12 km North of Harare, Zimbabwe. CO2 measurements were made over four adjacent fields of differing surface vegetation. The data illustrate the role of atmospheric intermittency as a mechanism for transferring CO2 between the surface and the atmosphere. At night, limited atmospheric mixing permits CO2 concentrations to increase to levels well above those conventionally reported (exceeding a spatial average of 450 ppm on some nights), but these high levels are moderated by a periodic intermittency that appears similar to that observed elsewhere and often associated with the presence of strong, synoptic-scale winds aloft (especially low-level jets). The availability of CO2 data with adequate time resolution facilitates investigation of the general behavior, which is suspected to be a common although rarely observed feature of the lower terrestrial atmosphere. If true, this means that the nocturnal vertical transfer of momentum, heat and mass is not solely through a constrained spectral continuum of turbulence as much as by intermittent bursts, propagating from above and penetrating the surface boundary layer. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.