Ideas and perspectives: A strategic assessment of methane and nitrous oxide measurements in the marine environment

Abstract

In the current era of rapid climate change, accurate characterization of climate-relevant gas dynamics – namely production, consumption and net emissions – is required for all biomes, especially those ecosystems most susceptible to the impact of change. Marine environments include regions that act as net sources or sinks for a number of climate-active trace gases including methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O). The temporal and spatial distributions of CH₄ and N₂O are controlled by the interaction of complex biogeochemical and physical processes. To evaluate and quantify the importance of these mechanisms relevant to marine CH₄ and N₂O cycling requires a combination of traditional scientific disciplines including oceanography, microbiology, and numerical modeling. Fundamental to all of these efforts is ensuring that the datasets produced by independent scientists around the world are comparable and interoperable. Equally critical is transparent communication within the research community about the technical improvements required to increase our collective understanding of marine CH₄ and N₂O. An Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry (OCB) sponsored workshop was organized to enhance dialogue and collaborations pertaining to marine CH₄ and N₂O. Here, we summarize the outcomes from the workshop to describe the challenges and opportunities for near-future CH₄ and N₂O research in the marine environment.