The NOAA/CMDL sampling site at St. Croix, Virgin Islands, was operated in cooperation with Fairleigh Dickinson University. The NOAA/CMDL flask data from the Virgin Islands show an increase in the annual atmospheric CO2 mixing ratio from 340.4 parts per million (ppm) in 1981 to 353.5 ppm in 1989, or 1.64 ppm per year. Conway et al. (1994) reported a global growth rate of 1.43 ppm per year during 1981-92 for all NOAA/CMDL flask-sampling sites.
Atmospheric CO2 mixing ratios at the Virgin Islands show a seasonal pattern: the annual minimum is observed in September or October; the annual maximum in April-May. Conway et al. (1994) found that the average peak-to-peak amplitude at the Virgin Islands during 1981-92 was 7.7 ppm. Unlike the data from a majority of stations in the NOAA/CMDL flask sampling network during 1981-84, the data from the Virgin Islands did not show a growth rate minimum in 1982 and a growth rate maximum in 1983. Instead, the Virgin Islands data exhibited large oscillations in their growth rate throughout the data record.
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Date revised 4/10/95 (gg)
