This research is oriented to the development of a deliberate tracer experiment to examine the relationship between gas exchange rate and wind speed over the ocean. Such a relationship will greatly facilitate estimation of gas fluxes of geochemically important gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen on a global basis. The preliminary work will include development and testing of non-volatile tracer which will be used in conjunction with the man-made volatile tracer, sulfur hexaflouride (SF6), in ocean experiments. Wind tunnel tests will compare the ratio of gas exchange coefficients of SF6, carbon dioxide, radon, methane, and helium at different wind speeds so the exchange coefficient of SF6 obtained in the ocean can be used to determine the fluxes of these gases. The non-volatile / volatile tracer combination will be first applied in a lake experiment to test sampling and analysis equipment and to ascertain the conservative behaviour of the non-volatile tracer. The proposed research is an important part of the implementation of the Global Ocean Flux Study, GOFS, since gas exchange is a boundary condition for biogeochemical cycles involving gaseous compounds.
