Atmosphere - surface fluxes estimated from different measurement techniques over snow covered sea ice

Carbon dioxide flux measurements in ecosystem science are mostly conducted over terrestrial areas by eddy covariance technique or the closed chamber method. Both methods are becoming more frequently used over ice and snow covered surfaces. Comparisons between eddy covariance and chamber methods have been carried out over terrestrial surfaces, but carefully designed inter calibration experiments over sea ice and snow are still needed to assess differences and uncertainties.
Here we present one of the first comparisons of fluxes over snow covered sea ice estimated from the eddy covariance technique and the chamber method. The measurements were carried out at Young Sound in Northeast Greenland from May 28th to June 28th 2014 starting just before snow started to melt.
The comparison shows in general higher fluxes obtained by the eddy covariance method however the disagreement varies depending on meteorological and surface parameters. The flux divergence in relation to varying parameters will be presented and possible causes will be discussed.