Articles | Volume 19, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-5353-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-5353-2026
Research article
 | 
17 Aug 2026
Research article |  | 17 Aug 2026

Airborne eddy covariance measurements of ocean-air VOC fluxes: Distinguishing signal from noise

Xin Chen, Dylan B. Millet, Glenn M. Wolfe, Erin R. Delaria, M. Julian Deventer, Markus Müller, Arne Schiller, Kenneth Lee Thornhill, and Armin Wisthaler

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Cited articles

Apel, E. C., Asher, E. C., Hills, A. J., and Hornbrook, R. S.: ATom: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from the TOGA instrument, Version 2, NASA's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) [data set], https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1936, 2021. 
Bandy, A. R., Thornton, D. C., Tu, F. H., Blomquist, B. W., Nadler, W., Mitchell, G. M., and Lenschow, D. H.: Determination of the vertical flux of dimethyl sulfide by eddy correlation and atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry (APIMS), J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002472, 2002. 
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Bates, K. H., Jacob, D. J., Wang, S., Hornbrook, R. S., Apel, E. C., Kim, M. J., Millet, D. B., Wells, K. C., Chen, X., Brewer, J. F., Ray, E. A., Commane, R., Diskin, G. S., and Wofsy, S. C.: The Global Budget of Atmospheric Methanol: New Constraints on Secondary, Oceanic, and Terrestrial Sources, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 126, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD033439, 2021. 
Beale, R., Dixon, J. L., Arnold, S. R., Liss, P. S., and Nightingale, P. D.: Methanol, acetaldehyde, and acetone in the surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 118, 5412–5425, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrc.20322, 2013. 
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Short summary
Air-sea exchange is a major uncertainty source for many volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Aircraft-based eddy covariance can be used to quantify these fluxes over large regions but such applications have been limited. We used observations over the Atlantic to characterize VOC fluxes and elucidate the drivers of measurement error. Results show how sensor noise and turbulent variability interact to determine flux detectability, and define instrumental priorities for future use of this technique.
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