Abstract:
CarbonTracker is a system that calculates carbon dioxide uptake and release at the Earth's surface over time. It estimates the carbon dioxide exchange from an 'atmospheric point of view'. Since CO2 mole fractions in the atmosphere reflect the sum of all the CO2 exchange at the surface, they form the ultimate record of the combined human and natural influence on greenhouse gas levels. CarbonTracker
... produces model predictions of atmospheric CO2 mole fractions, to be compared with the observed atmospheric CO2 mole fractions. The difference between them is attributed to differences in the sources and sinks used to make the prediction (the so-called 'first-guess') and the sources and sinks affecting the true atmospheric CO2. Using numerical techniques, these differences are used to solve for a set of sources and sinks that most closely matches the observed CO2 in the atmosphere. CarbonTracker has a representation of atmospheric transport based on weather forecasts, and modules representing air-sea exchange of CO2, photosynthesis and respiration by the terrestrial biosphere, and release of CO2 to the atmosphere by fires and combustion of fossil fuels.
[Summary provided by NOAA.] 
Links
