Estimates of the CO2 and CH4 Emission and Uptake Flux Imbalances in the Barents and Kara Seas in the Summers of 2016 and 2017.

The quasi-two-dimensional mean effective concentration fields and mean effective fields of methane and carbon dioxide sources and sinks in the region of the Kara and Barents seas are analyzed. The fields were retrieved using the instrumental and computational atmospheric fluid-location technology (passive remote sensing using wind) based on measurements of the surface concentrations on the island of Belyi during the summer months of 2016 and 2017. The concept of the emission and uptake flux disbalance index is introduced, which quantitatively characterizes a degree of the impact of the regional greenhouse gas sources and sinks on the climate system. Estimates of the index are performed for two greenhouse gases for the region of the Barents and Kara seas, which was an emitter of methane (the flux disbalance index is 2.15 and 1.61, respectively) and a sink of carbon dioxide (0.75 and 0.92, respectively), in the summers of 2016 and 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]