Impact of wind speeds on turbulent transport of carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes at a tropical location in Ile - Ife, southwest Nigeria

The study investigates impact of wind speeds on the turbulent transport of CO₂ fluxes for a land-surface atmosphere interface in a low-wind tropical area between May 28^th and June 14^th, 2010; and May 24^th and June 15^th, 2015. Eddy covariance technique was used to acquire turbulent mass fluxes of CO₂ and wind speed at the study site located inside the main campus of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile – Ife, Nigeria. The results showed high levels of CO₂ fluxes at nighttime attributed to stable boundary layer conditions and low wind speed. Large transport and distribution of CO₂ fluxes were observed in the early mornings due to strong wind speeds recorded at the study location. In addition, negative CO₂ fluxes were observed during the daytime attributed to prominent convective and photosynthetic activities. The study concludes there was an inverse relationship between turbulent transport of CO₂ fluxes and wind speed for daytime period while nighttime CO₂ fluxes showed no significant correlation.

Keywords: CO₂ fluxes, Wind speed, Turbulent transport, Low-wind tropical area, Stable boundary layer