Seasonal and Diurnal Fluxes of Radiation, Heat, Water Vapor, and Carbon Dioxide over a Suburban Area

Abstract Based on 1 yr of field measurements, the diurnal, seasonal, and annual fluxes of energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) at a residential area of Tokyo, Japan, are described. The major findings are as follows. 1) The storage heat flux G in the daytime had little seasonal variation, irrespective of significant seasonal change of net all-wave radiation Rn. 2) The latent heat flux in the summer daytime was large despite the small areal fraction of natural coverage (trees and bare soil). The estimated local latent heat flux per unit natural coverage was 2 times the available energy (Rn − G), which indicates that the “oasis effect” was significant. 3) The CO2 flux was always upward throughout the year and the magnitude was larger in winter, mainly because of an increase of fossil fuel consumption. The annual total CO2 flux was 6 times the downward CO2 flux at a typical temperate deciduous forest.