Challenges in Quantifying Air-Water Carbon Dioxide Flux Using Estuarine Water Quality Data: Case Study for Chesapeake Bay.

Estuaries play an uncertain but potentially important role in the global carbon cycle via CO outgassing. The uncertainty mainly stems from the paucity of studies that document the full spatial and temporal variability of estuarine surface water partial pressure of carbon dioxide ( CO). Here, we explore the potential of utilizing the abundance of pH data from historical water quality monitoring programs to fill the data void via a case study of the mainstem Chesapeake Bay (eastern United States).