Inverse Modelling of Trace Gas Exchange at Canopy and Regional Scales

Abstract

This thesis deals with the estimation of plant-atmosphere trace gas exchange and isotopic discrimination from atmospheric concentration measurements. Two space scales were investigated: canopy and regional. The canopy-scale study combined a Lagrangian model of turbulent dispersal with ecophysiological principles to infer vertical profiles of fluxes of CO2, H2O and heat as well as carbon and oxygen isotope discrimination during CO2 assimilation, from concentration measurements within a forest. The regional-scale model used a convective boundary layer budget approach to infer average regional isotopic discrimination and fluxes of CO2 and sensible and latent heat from the evolution during the day of boundary layer height and mean concentrations of CO2 and H2O, temperature and carbon and oxygen isotope composition of CO2. ...