Sonja Endres

Oceanic bromocarbons are highly reactive volatile organic compounds and may contribute up to 40% of stratospheric ozone depletion in mid latitudes1. High sea-air fluxes of bromocarbons in the tropical ocean have been related to biological cycling in the surface ocean, mainly due to phytoplankton and bacteria, but the underlying processes and magnitude of the biogenic sources in the diverse marine environments are poorly known. In order to understand seasonal and spatial fluctuations of oceanic bromocarbon emissions and to project their future development, this project will study microbial production and removal processes in the surface ocean during cruises to low and high latitudes and combine them with observational data of bromocarbon concentrations in the water and atmosphere. Furthermore, it will clarify the impact of some major environmental factors on biogenic bromocarbon emissions. In the context of future climate change, it will expand our knowledge on the cycling of climate-active trace gases by contributing actual process rates for model projections.