Scientific Resources

For individuals looking to find scientific publications relating to: (1) carbon isotopes of carbon dioxide, (2) stable isotope measurement methods, (3) radiocarbon measurement methods, and (4) isotope modeling, the following list provides an initial source of references. Measurement methods described in the following methodology papers relate specifically to the methods employed at INSTAAR (University of Colorado's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research) for NOAA's Carbon Cycle and Greenhouse Gases Group.

Selected scientific references:

Stable isotope measurement methods at NOAA/INSTAAR

• Vaughn, B. H., D. F. Ferretti, J. B. Miller, and J. W. C. White (2004), Stable isotope measurements of atmospheric CO₂ and CH₄, in Handbook of stable isotope analytical techniques, edited, Elsevier BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• Trolier, M., J. W. C. White, P. P. Tans, K. A. Masarie, and P. A. Gemery (1996), Monitoring the isotopic composition of atmospheric CO₂: measurements from the NOAA global air sampling network, J. Geophys. Res., 101(D20), 25897-25916.

Radiocarbon measurement methods at NOAA/INSTAAR

• Turnbull, J. C., S. J. Lehman, J. B. Miller, R. J. Sparks, J. R. Southon, and P. P. Tans (2007), A new high precision ¹⁴CO₂ time series for North American continental air, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D11310.
• Turnbull, J. C., S. J. Lehman, S. Morgan, and C. Wolak (2010), A new automated extraction system for ¹⁴C measurement in atmospheric CO₂, Radiocarbon, in press.
• Lehman, S.J., Miller, J., Turnbull, J., Southon, J., Tans, P., and C. Sweeney, (in press). ¹⁴CO₂ measurements in the NOAA/ESRL Global Co-operative Sampling Network: An update on measurements and data quality.  Expert Group Recommendations from the 15th WMO/IAEA Meeting of Experts on Carbon Dioxide, _Other Greenhouse Gases, and Related Tracer _Measurement Techniques, Jena.

Stable isotopes in CO₂

• Tans, P. P., J. A. Berry, and R. F. Keeling (1993), Ocean ¹³C/¹²C observations: a new window on ocean CO₂ uptake, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 7(2), 353-368.
• Ciais, P., Tans, P. P., Trolier, M., White, J. W. C. and Francey, R. J. (1995). A Large Northern Hemisphere Terrestrial CO₂ Sink Indicated by the ¹³C/¹²C Ratio of Atmospheric CO₂. Science 269, 1098-1102.
• Ciais, P., Tans, P. P., White, J. W. C., Trolier, M., Francey, R. J., Berry, J. A., Randall, D. R., Sellers, P. J., Collatz, J. G. and Schimel, D. S. (1995). Partitioning of Ocean and Land Uptake of CO₂ as Inferred by Delta-C-13 Measurements from the Noaa Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory Global Air Sampling Network. J. Geophys. Res. 100, 5051-5070.
• Battle, M., Bender, M. L., Tans, P. P., White, J. W. C., Ellis, J. T., Conway, T. and Francey, R. J. (2000). Global Carbon Sinks and Their Variability Inferred from Atmospheric O₂ and ¹³C. Science 287, 2467-2470.
• Miller, J. B., Tans, P. P., White, J. W. C., Conway, T. J. and Vaughn, B. W. (2003). The Atmospheric Signal of Terrestrial Carbon Isotopic Discrimination and Its Implication for Partitioning Carbon Fluxes. Tellus, Ser. B 55, 197-206.
• Miller, J. B. and Tans, P. P. (2003). Calculating Isotopic Fractionation from Atmospheric Measurements at Various Scales. Tellus, Ser. B 55, 207-214.
• Alden, C. B., Miller, J. B. and White, J. W. C. (2010). Can Bottom-up Ocean CO₂ Fluxes by Reconciled with Atmospheric ¹³C Observations? Tellus B In Press.

Radiocarbon in CO₂

¹⁴CO₂ as a tracer for fossil fuel CO₂

• Suess, H. E. (1955), Radiocarbon concentration in modern wood, Science, 122, 414-417.
• Tans, P. P., A. F. De Jong, and W. G. Mook (1979), Natural atmospheric ¹⁴C variation and the Suess effect, Nature, 280, 826-828.
• Turnbull, J. C., J. B. Miller, S. J. Lehman, P. P. Tans, R. J. Sparks, and J. R. Southon (2006), Comparison of ¹⁴CO₂, CO and SF₆ as tracers for determination of recently added fossil fuel CO₂ in the atmosphere and implications for biological CO₂ exchange, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L01817.

¹⁴CO₂ modeling

• Turnbull, J. C., P. J. Rayner, J. B. Miller, T. Naegler, P. Ciais, and A. Cozic (2009), On the use of ¹⁴CO₂ as a tracer for fossil fuel CO₂: quantifying uncertainties using an atmospheric transport model, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D22302.
• Randerson, J., I. G. Enting, E. A. G. Schuur, K. Caldeira, and I. Y. Fung (2002), Seasonal and latitudinal variability of troposphere Δ¹⁴CO₂: post bomb contributions from fossil fuels, oceans, the stratosphere, and the terrestrial biosphere, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 16(4), 1112.