Biogenic isoprene emissions over China: sensitivity to the CO2 inhibition effect

Abstract

Isoprene emissions emitted from vegetation are one of the most important precursors for tropospheric ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation. The authors estimate the biogenic isoprene emissions in China over 2006–2011 using a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) driven by meteorological fields from the assimilated meteorological data from MERRA. The authors incorporate three different parameterizations of isoprene–CO2 interaction into the model, and perform three sensitivity simulations to investigate the effect of CO2 inhibition on isoprene emissions for the period 2006–2011 in China. The annual isoprene emissions rate across China is simulated to be 12.62 Tg C yr−1, averaged over 2006–2011, and decreases by about 2.7%–7.4% when the CO2 inhibition schemes are included. The CO2 inhibition effect might be significant in regions where the CO2 concentration and isoprene emissions are high. Estimates of isoprene emissions can differ depending on the scheme of CO2 inhibition. According to the results obtained from the sensitivity simulations, the authors find that the CO2 inhibition effect leads to 5.6% ± 2.3% reductions in annual isoprene emissions over China. The authors also find that inclusion of CO2 inhibition can substantially alter the sensitivity of isoprene emissions to the changes in meteorological conditions during the study period.