ABSTRACT
THOMAS FROST & ROBERT C.UPSTILL-GODDARD Department of Marine Sciences and Coastal Management, University of Newcastle,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
Abstract The current status of research into air-water gas exchange is reviewed. Some relevant basic concepts are re-examined within the context of current progress towards parameterization of the air-sea gas exchange process using models and data from wind-tunnels, and the interpretational difficulties that still persist with these approaches are identified and discussed. Subsequently, field measurements of air-water gas exchange are reviewed, with key developments highlighted, in particular, important recent advances in the use of micrometeorological and chemical tracer-based techniques of measurement. Results obtained with these methods are summarized and compared with laboratory wind-tunnel-based measurements, in order to identify some outstanding gas exchange issues still to be resolved. In the light of these, the potentially important roles played by a variety of physical, chemical and biological forcings are considered and some likely fruitful avenues for nature research are outlined for this important area of global science.
