Premium
A weekly cycle in atmospheric carbon dioxide
Author(s) -
Cerveny Randall S.,
Coakley Kevin J.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2001gl013952
Subject(s) - carbon dioxide , observatory , environmental science , carbon cycle , atmospheric sciences , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , climatology , annual cycle , atmospheric research , residual , diurnal cycle , geology , chemistry , mathematics , physics , astrophysics , ecology , organic chemistry , ecosystem , biology , algorithm
We present a new statistic called the “Mean Symmetrized Residual” (MSR) for detection and quantification of a weekly cycle in measured daily atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). At the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, we conclude that CO 2 concentrations, on average, are significantly lower (0.022 parts per million by volume, ppmv) on weekends (Saturday–Sunday) than during the rest of the week. Over the past twenty‐five years, the variation of the mean values of MSR (as a function of day of the week) has been relatively stable. We speculate that the observed weekday/weekend variation in CO 2 at Mauna Loa is the result of anthropogenic emissions on Hawaii and nearby sources. We do not detect a weekly cycle in daily CO 2 concentration measured at South Pole, Antarctica. This methodology has applicability to a variety of datasets.