Current Post: RCUK Academic Fellow

 

Room Number: 01.37B

 

Telephone: 01603 593327 (+44 1603 593327)

 

Fax: 01603 591327 (+44 1603 591327)

 

E-mail: P.Suntharalingam@uea.ac.uk

 

 

Biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur; constraints from other chemical species on carbon cycling processes; numerical modelling; inverse analysis methods

 

 

My research focuses on biogeochemical cycles of climatically important species in the atmosphere and ocean. Specifically, I investigate the processes governing their distributions and budgets using numerical model simulations (global and regional) together with available measurements (land-based, aircraft, shipboard and satellite). I did my Ph.D thesis work at Princeton University, where I focused on the oceanic nitrous oxide cycle and air-sea flux. I then moved to the Atmospheric Chemistry Modelling group at Harvard and worked on aspects of the global carbon cycle. I am especially interested in exploring constraints provided by other chemical species on carbon cycling processes. Recent work includes an evaluation of the role of reduced carbon species (e.g., CO, CH₄, VOCs) in the atmospheric CO₂ budget, and the use of observed correlations of CO and CO₂ to identify combustion and biospheric influences on atmospheric CO₂. I joined UEA in 2006. My work here includes investigations into the global budget of atmospheric carbonyl sulphide and potential constraints from COS on carbon cycle processes. I am also involved in a QUEST project to identify and quantify important biogeochemical feedbacks on climate change.

 

 

Suntharalingam, P., J. Randerson, N. Krakauer, D.J. Jacob and J.A. Logan (2005) The Influence of Reduced Carbon Emissions and Oxidation on the Distribution of Atmospheric CO_2: Implications for Inversion Analyses, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, doi: 10.1029/2005GB002466

 

Suntharalingam, P., D. J. Jacob, P. I. Palmer, J. A. Logan, R. M. Yantosca, Y. Xiao, M. J. Evans, D. Streets, S. A. Vay and G. Sachse (2004) Improved quantification of Chinese carbon fluxes using CO₂/CO correlations in Asian outflow, J. Geophys. Res., 109 (D18), doi:10.1029/2003JD004362

 

Suntharalingam, P., C.M. Spivakovsky, J.A. Logan and M.B. McElroy (2003) Estimating the distribution of terrestrial CO2 sources and sinks from atmospheric measurements: sensitivity to configuration of the observation network. J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D15), 4452, doi:10.1029/2002JD002207

 

Suntharalingam, P., and J. L. Sarmiento (2000) Factors governing the oceanic nitrous oxide distribution: Simulations with an ocean general circulation model, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 14(1), 429-454.

 

Suntharalingam, P., J. L. Sarmiento and J. R. Toggweiler (2000) Global significance of nitrous-oxide production and transport from oceanic low-oxygen zones: A modeling study, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 14(4), 1353-1370.

 

Palmer, P., P. Suntharalingam, D. B. Jones, D. Jacob, G. Sachse, S. Vay, D. Streets and Q. Fu (2006) Exploiting CO₂:CO correlations from aircraft concentration data in a regional atmospheric inversion, J. of Geophys. Res., doi:10.1029/2005JD006697