The Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the global average and soils are rapidly warming. Luke Schiferl is leading our work to understand the drivers of long-term trends in CO2, while Ludda Ludwig is working on terrestrial and aquatic CO2 and CH4 fluxes around the Arctic.
Funded Projects
Luke Schiferl is using airborne observations from the NASA ABoVE program and NOAA tower observations in a long-term analysis of the CO2 signals from the Alaskan North Slope. Ludda Ludwig is investigating Hierarchical Scaling of Carbon Fluxes from Terrestrial-Aquatic Interfaces in the Arctic as part of her NASA FINESST fellowship in collaboration with the Woodwell Climate Research Center. Both Luke and Ludda will be working on our NSF AON project with Harvard University focused on making airborne eddy flux measurement of isotopic CO2 and CH4 over Arctic tundra.
Recent Results
As part of the NASA Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) project and NASA Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), we calculated the emissions of methane and flux of carbon dioxide from Alaska. We also used NOAA data to examine the long-term trends in early winter CO2 respiration. Our work is continuing our research through a NSF Arctic Observing Network project with Harvard University.
Recent publications include:
- Schiferl et al., 2022
- Ludwig et al., 2022
- Larson et al., 2021
- Virkkala et al., 2021
- Watts et al., 2021
- Wiggins et al., 2021
- Zhang et al., 2020
- Natali et al., 2019
- Parazoo et al., GCB, 2018
- Commane et al., PNAS, 2017
- Luus et al., GRL, 2017
- Zona et al., PNAS, 2016
- Parazoo et al., PNAS, 2016
- Miller et al., 2016
Results from Schiferl et al. 2022: Top-down and bottom-up carbon dioxide budgets are best reconciled when including zero curtain and inland water fluxes for the freeze-up shoulder season.
Explore numerous bottom-up parameter and map configurations, and how they compare to atmospheric observations, at Luke's TVPRM landing page
Commane Group in the News
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12/2021: Quoted in Bloomberg article on Arctic permafrost thaw: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-13/arctic-fires-are-melting-permafrost-that-keeps-carbon-underground
- 09/2019: National Geographic: The Arctic
- 05/2018: Washington Post: The Arctic’s carbon bomb might be even more potent than we thought
- 02/2018: Inside Science: Global Warming’s Frozen Giant
- 01/2018:Commane et al., 2017 mentioned in an NPR article: Is there a ticking time bomb under the Arctic?
- 05/2017: Washington Post article on Commane et al., 2017: We all knew this was coming: Alaska’s thawing soils are now pouring carbon dioxide into the air
- 05/2017: New York Times article on Commane et al., 2017: Tundra May Be Shifting Alaska to Put Out More Carbon Than It Stores, Study Says
- 05/2017 Guardian article on Commane et al., 2017: Slow-freezing Alaska soil driving surge in carbon dioxide emissions
- 06/2016: Popular Science article based on Parazoo, Commane et al., PNAS, 2016: CO2 Emissions Data In Arctic Winter May Not Be As Accurate As Hoped
- 12/2015: Washington Post article on Zona, Gioli, Commane et al., PNAS, 2016: Bad News: Scientists say we could be underestimating Arctic methane emissions
Arctic Carbon Datasets
- Natali, S., J.D. Watts, S. Potter, B.M. Rogers, S. Ludwig, A. Selbmann, P. Sullivan, B. Abbott, K. Arndt, A.A. Bloom, G. Celis, T. Christensen, C. Christiansen, R. Commane, E. Cooper, P.M. Crill, C.I. Czimczik, S. Davydov, J. Du, J. Egan, B. Elberling, S.E. Euskirchen, T. Friborg, H. Genet, J. Goodrich, P. Grogan, M. Helbig, E. Jafarov, J. Jastrow, A. Kalhori, Y. Kim, J.S. Kimball, L. Kutzbach, M. Lara, K. Larsen, B. Lee, Z. Liu, M.M. Loranty, M. Lund, M. Lupascu, N. Madani, A. Malhotra, R. Matamala, J. McFarland, A. McGuire, A. Michelsen, C. Minions, W. Oechel, D. Olefeldt, F. Parmentier, N. Pirk, B. Poulter, W. Quinton, F. Rezanezhad, D. Risk, T. Sachs, K. Schaefer, N. Schmidt, E. Schuur, P. Semenchuk, G. Shaver, O. Sonnentag, G. Starr, C. Treat, M. Waldrop, Y. Wang, J. Welker, C. Wille, X. Xu, Z. Zhang, Q. Zhuang, and D. Zona. 2019. Synthesis of Winter In Situ Soil CO2 Flux in pan-Arctic and Boreal Regions, 1989-2017. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1692
- R. Commane, J. Benmergui, J.O.W. Lindaas, S. Miller, K.A. Luus, R.Y-W. Chang, B.C. Daube, S. Euskirchen, J. Henderson, A. Karion, J.B. Miller, N.C. Parazoo, J.T. Randerson, C. Sweeney, P. Tans, K. Thoning, S. Veraverbeke, C.E. Miller, and S.C. Wofsy. 2017. CARVE: Net Ecosystem CO2 Exchange and Regional Carbon Budgets for Alaska, 2012-2014. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1389
- Budney, J.W., R.Y-W. Chang, R. Commane, B.C. Daube, A. Dayalu, S.J. Dinardo, E.W. Gottlieb, A. Karion, J.O.W. Lindaas, C.E. Miller, J.B. Miller, S. Miller, M. Pender, J.V. Pittman, J. Samra, C. Sweeney, S.C. Wofsy, and B. Xiang. 2016. CARVE: L2 Merged Atmospheric CO2, CO, O3 and CH4 Concentrations, Alaska, 2012-2015. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1402
- Chang, R.Y-W., R. Commane, J.W. Budney, B.C. Daube, A. Dayalu, E.W. Gottlieb, J.O.W. Lindaas, S. Miller, M. Pender, J.V. Pittman, J. Samra, B. Xiang, and S.C. Wofsy. 2016. CARVE: L2 Atmospheric CO2, CO and CH4 Concentrations, Harvard CRDS, Alaska, 2012-2014. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1403
- Karion, A., C. Sweeney, J. B. Miller, A. E. Andrews, R. Commane, S. J. Dinardo, J. Henderson, J. O. W. Lindaas, J. Lin, K. A. Luus, T. Newberger, P. Tans, S. C. Wofsy, S. Wolter and C. E. Miller. 2016. CARVE: CH4, CO2 and CO Atmospheric Concentrations, CARVE Tower, Alaska, 2012-2014. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, TN, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1316
- Parazoo, N. C., W. Oechel, C. E. Miller, S. J. Dinardo, R. Commane, J. O. W. Lindaas, R. Y.-W. Chang, S. C. Wofsy, C. Sweeney, and A. Karion. 2015. CARVE-ARCSS: Methane Loss from the Arctic - Fluxes from the Alaskan North Slope, 2012-2014. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, TN, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1325
- Zona D., W. Oechel, C. E. Miller, S. J. Dinardo, R. Commane, J. O. W. Lindaas, R. Y.-W. Chang, S. C. Wofsy, C. Sweeney, and A. Karion. 2015. CARVE-ARCSS: Methane Loss from the Arctic - Fluxes from the Alaskan North Slope, 2012-2014. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, TN, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1300
Arctic Organizations, Projects and Field Sites
- Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABOVE) Project
- Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE) Arctic Project
- Carbon in the Arctic Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) Project
- Toolik Field Station
- Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Station
- Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS)
- Permafrost Carbon Network (PCN)
- Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee Collaborations (IARPC)
- US Permafrost Association (USPA)
- Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN)
Accessible Research Summaries
- May 2017: Early Winter Respiration from Alaskan Tundra
- January 2017: Regional Methane fluxes in Alaska
- June 2016: Future CO2 in Alaska
- January 2016: Methane in the Arctic
- October 2015: Carbon Fluxes in the Arctic: CARVE