Low-pressure storms drive nitrous oxide emissions in the Southern Ocean

Low-pressure storms drive nitrous oxide emissions in the Southern Ocean | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Low-pressure storms drive nitrous oxide emissions in the Southern Ocean Colette Kelly, Bonnie Chang, Andrea Emmanuelli, Ellen Park, Alison Macdonald, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6378208/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas and the primary ozone depletion agent of the 21 st century. Marine nitrous oxide emissions are difficult to constrain due to their sharp gradients and small scales of variability in space and time. In the Southern Ocean, where extratropical cyclones create conditions conducive to air-sea gas flux, shipboard sampling is unlikely to capture the full extent of nitrous oxide emissions due to the impracticality of sampling storms. Here, we propose that the Southern Ocean nitrous oxide source is almost double the magnitude of previous estimates. Machine learning-derived nitrous oxide observations from biogeochemical Argo floats reveal that low-pressure centers inside storms amplify air-sea disequilibria and create pulses of nitrous oxide to the atmosphere. Taking these low-pressure centers into account, rather than assuming a barometric pressure of 1 atmosphere, increases the net annual Southern Ocean nitrous oxide flux by 75%, explaining the discrepancy with previous estimates. Our results imply that the Southern Ocean plays a significant role in the global nitrous oxide cycle and may be a weaker net sink of greenhouse gases than previously thought. Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Marine chemistry Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Ocean sciences/Marine chemistry Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Biogeochemistry/Element cycles Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Climate change/Climate and Earth system modelling Earth and environmental sciences/Biogeochemistry/Element cycles Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files tableS1.xlsx GO-SHIP cruises included in training dataset. suppinfo.pdf Calculation of Air-Sea Gas Exchange Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6378208","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":443412578,"identity":"44be0178-10b0-4620-b38e-6fef70312d03","order_by":0,"name":"Colette 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