Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Coupling Carbon Capture from a Power Plant with Semi-automated Open Raceway Ponds for Microalgae Cultivation
Published on: August 14, 2020
Photosynthetic control of atmospheric carbonyl sulfide during the growing season
J E Campbell1, G R Carmichael, T Chai
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. ecampbell3@ucmerced.edu
Abstract:
Climate models incorporate photosynthesis-climate feedbacks, yet we lack robust tools for large-scale assessments of these processes. Recent work suggests that carbonyl sulfide (COS), a trace gas consumed by plants, could provide a valuable constraint on photosynthesis. Here we analyze airborne observations of COS and carbon dioxide concentrations during the growing season over North America with a three-dimensional atmospheric transport model. We successfully modeled the persistent vertical drawdown of atmospheric COS using the quantitative relation between COS and photosynthesis that has been measured in plant chamber experiments. Furthermore, this drawdown is driven by plant uptake rather than other continental and oceanic fluxes in the model. These results provide quantitative evidence that COS gradients in the continental growing season may have broad use as a measurement-based photosynthesis tracer.
More Related Videos
10:19A CO2 Concentration Gradient Facility for Testing CO2 Enrichment and Soil Effects on Grassland Ecosystem Function
Published on: November 21, 2015
07:32Monitoring Pedogenic Inorganic Carbon Accumulation Due to Weathering of Amended Silicate Minerals in Agricultural Soils.
Published on: June 4, 2021
Related Concept Videos
The Calvin Benson Cycle
Microbes and the Sulfur Cycle
The Sulfur Cycle
Carbon-dioxide Fixation
Anoxygenic Photosynthesis
Sulfur Assimilation