Data-based estimates of ocean carbon uptake biased high from neglect of submonthly atmospheric pressure variability

Dombret, Jeanne; Bellenger, Hugo; Perrot, Xavier; Parc, Laëtitia; Kwiatkowski, Lester; Chevallier, Frédéric; Bopp, Laurent; Gehlen, Marion; Séférian, Roland; Berthet, Sarah; Orr, James C.

doi:10.5194/bg-23-4133-2026

Articles | Volume 23, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-4133-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-4133-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 23, issue 12

Research article

|

23 Jun 2026

Research article |

| 23 Jun 2026

Data-based estimates of ocean carbon uptake biased high from neglect of submonthly atmospheric pressure variability

Jeanne Dombret, Hugo Bellenger, Xavier Perrot, Laëtitia Parc, Lester Kwiatkowski, Frédéric Chevallier, Laurent Bopp, Marion Gehlen, Roland Séférian, Sarah Berthet, and James C. Orr

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-4133-2026-supplement

Data sets

Data-based estimates of ocean carbon uptake biased high from neglect of submonthly atmospheric pressure variability J. Dombret et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15848192

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

Mediterranean Sea - High Resolution Diurnal Subskin Sea Surface Temperature Analysis E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (CMEMS) https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00170

OceanSODA-ETHZ: A global gridded dataset of the surface ocean carbonate system for seasonal to decadal studies of ocean acidification (v2025) (NCEI Accession 0220059). v2.2 L. Gregor and N. Gruber https://doi.org/10.25921/m5wx-ja34

A global monthly climatology of total alkalinity: a neural network approach (2019) D. Broullón et al. https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/8644

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Short summary

Estimates of ocean CO₂ uptake based on atmospheric and oceanic observations typically rely on monthly averages, except for wind speed. Thus they neglect effects of shorter-term events such as storms, which are included in models. Here we account for the effect of this shorter-term variability on ocean carbon uptake and find that it is reduced, mainly because storms lower atmospheric pressure. This refinement closes the gap between data-based and model-based estimates by 25 %.