Britt Stephens

Senior Scientist

Information

Bio

Britton Stephens is a Senior Scientist in the Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. Britt received a Bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard in 1993 and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1999. Before joining NCAR in 2002, he completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Carbon Cycle and Greenhouse Gases group. His research has focused on developing and deploying new instruments for tower, ship, and aircraft-based observations of atmospheric O2 and CO2, and on synthesizing data sets and models to elucidate global carbon cycle processes. Britt’s carbon-cycle interests span terrestrial ecology, oceanography, atmospheric dynamics, atmospheric chemistry, and climate change.

Britt has designed and built an airborne vacuum-ultraviolet absorption O2 instrument, a tower and ship-based fuel-cell O2 measurement system, a tower-based autonomous CO2 analyzer, and an airborne flask sampling system for laboratory measurement of O2, Ar, and isotopologues of CO2.

Britt participated in the COBRA (2000, 2003) and START-08 airborne campaigns and served as the mission scientist for ACME-04 and ACME-07. In 2007, he led a synthesis of global airborne CO2 observations with a collection of atmospheric transport models that resulted in a major revision to our understanding of the latitudinal distribution of carbon sinks. Britt was a principal investigator on the HIPPO project (2009-2011), a 3-year global airborne survey of greenhouse and related gases that collected an unprecedented data set of over 90 species from the surface to the tropopause and nearly pole to pole in all seasons. He maintained a network of mountain-top CO2 instruments in the U.S. Rocky Mountains (2005-2018) that has been used to investigate regional carbon cycling and disturbance impacts. Britt developed and operated a continuous atmospheric O2 / CO2 instrument on a ship transiting the Southern Ocean between Chile and Antarctica (2012-2017). Britt led the O2/N2 Ratio and CO2 Airborne Southern Ocean (ORCAS) study which flew out of Punta Arenas, Chile for 6 weeks in early 2016. He participated as an instrument PI on the NASA ATom mission (2016-2018). He has also been a member of the NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory Science Team since 2015. Britt is now leading the Southern Ocean Carbon Gas Observatory, a multi-year NSF Polar Programs funded effort to measure CO2 and other gases from the LC-130 aircraft flying in support of the U.S. Antarctic Program.

Expanded descriptions of Britt's background and research can be found in a 2004 NCAR People Spotlight, in a 2009 NSF-prepared Video, in a 2014 interview for the journal Carbon Management, and in a 2021 UCAR/NCAR Meet the Experts Q&A session.

Publications

Refereed Articles

Jin, Y., B. B. Stephens, R. F. Keeling, E. J. Morgan, C. Rödenbeck, P. K. Patra, M. C. Long, 2023: Seasonal tropospheric distribution and air-sea fluxes of atmospheric potential oxygen from global airborne observations, Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles., https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GB007827.

Loechli, A. M., Stephens, B. B., Commane, R., Chevallier, F., McKain, K., Ralph, K., Morgan, E., Patra, P. K., Sargent, M., Sweeney, C., and Keppel-Aleks, G., 2023: Evaluating Northern Hemisphere growing season net carbon flux in climate models using aircraft observations, Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GB007520.

Laughner, J. L., Roche, S., Kiel, M., Toon, G. C., Wunch, D., Baier, B. C., Biraud, S., Chen, H., Kivi, R., Laemmel, T., McKain, K., Quéhé, P.-Y., Rousogenous, C., Stephens, B. B., Walker, K., and Wennberg, P. O., 2023: A new algorithm to generate a priori trace gas profiles for the GGG2020 retrieval algorithm, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1121–1146, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1121-2023.

Mitchell, L., J. Lin, L. Hutyra, D. Bowling, R. Cohen, K. Davis, E. DiGangi, R. Duren, J. Ehleringer, C. Fain, M. Falk, A. Guha, A. Karion, R. Keeling, J. Kim, N. Miles, C. Miller, S. Newman, D. Pataki, S. Prinzivalli, X. Ren, A. Rice, S. Richardson, M. Sargent, B. Stephens, J. Turnbull, K. Verhulst, F. Vogel, R. Weiss, J. Whetstone, and S. Wofsy, 2022: A multi-city urban atmospheric greenhouse gas measurement data synthesis, Scientific Data, http://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01467-3.

Tilmes, S., A. Smith, P. Lawrence, T. Barnes, W. Grabowski, B. Medeiros, M. Morrison, A. Prein, B. B. Stephens, R. Rasmussen, G. Gadikota, D. G. MacMartin, K. Rosenlof, D. S. Rothman, A. Seimon, and G. Shrestha, 2022: Developing a framework for an interdisciplinary and international climate intervention strategies research program, Bull. Amer. Met. Soc., https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0053.1.

Thompson, C., et al., 2022: The NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) Mission: Imaging the Chemistry of the Global Atmosphere, Bull. Amer. Met. Soc., https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0315.1.

Long, M. C., B. B. Stephens, K. McKain, C. Sweeney, R. F. Keeling, E. A. Kort, E. J. Morgan, J. D. Bent, N. Chandra, F. Chevallier, R. Commane, B. C. Daube, P. B. Krummel, Z. Loh, I. T. Luijkx, D. Munro, P. Patra, W. Peters, M. Ramonet, C. Rödenbeck, A. Stavert, P. Tans, S. C. Wofsy, 2021: Strong Southern Ocean carbon uptake evident in airborne observations, Science, 374, 1275-1280, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi4355.

Hallar, A. G., S. S. Brown, E. Crosman, K. Barsanti, C. Cappa, J. Lin, J. Murphy, J. Horel, L. Mitchell, J. Fast, V. Aneja, R. Bahreini, R. Banta, C. Bray, A. Brewer, D. Caulton, J. de Gouw, S. F. J. De Wekker, D. K. Farmer, I. Faloona, C. J. Gaston, S. Hoch, H. A. Holmes, F. Hopkins, N. N. Karle, J. T. Kelly, K. Kelly, N. Lareau, K. Lu, R. L. Mauldin, D. V. Mallia, R. Martin, D. Mendoza, H. J. Oldroyd, Y. Pichugina, K. A. Pratt, P. Saide, P. Silva, W. Simpson, B. Stephens, J. Stutz, A. Sullivan, C. C. Womack, 2021, Coupled air quality and boundary-layer meteorology in Western U.S. basins during winter: Design and rationale for a comprehensive study, Bull. Amer. Met. Soc., https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0017.1.

Gonzalez, Y., Commane, R., Manninen, E., Daube, B. C., Schiferl, L., McManus, J. B., McKain, K., Hintsa, E. J., Elkins, J. W., Montzka, S. A., Sweeney, C., Moore, F., Jimenez, J. L., Campuzano Jost, P., Ryerson, T. B., Bourgeois, I., Peischl, J., Thompson, C. R., Ray, E., Wennberg, P. O., Crounse, J., Kim, M., Allen, H. M., Newman, P., Stephens, B. B., Apel, E. C., Hornbrook, R. S., Nault, B. A., Morgan, E., and Wofsy, S. C., 2021: Impact of stratospheric air and surface emissions on tropospheric nitrous oxide during ATom, Atmos. Chem. Phys., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11113-2021.

Asher, E., A. J. Hills, R. S. Hornbrook, S. Shertz, S. Gabbard, B. B. Stephens, D. Helmig, and E. C. Apel, 2021: Unpiloted Aircraft System Instrument for the Rapid Collection of Whole Air Samples and Measurements for Environmental Monitoring and Air Quality Studies, Environmental Science & Technology, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c07213.

Stephens, B. B., E. J. Morgan, J. D. Bent, A. S. Watt, S. R. Shertz, R. F. Keeling, and B. C. Daube, 2021: Airborne measurements of oxygen concentration from the surface to the lower stratosphere and pole to pole, Atm. Meas. Tech., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2543-2021.

Liu, J., L. Baskarran, K. Bowman, D. Schimel, A. A. Bloom, N. C. Parazoo, T. Oda, D. Carroll, D. Menemenlis, J. Joiner, R. Commane, B. Daube, L. V. Gatii, K. McKain, J. Miller, B. B. Stephens, C. Sweeney, and S. Wofsy, 2021: Carbon Monitoring System Flux Net Biosphere Exchange 2021: (CMS-Flux NBE 2020), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-299-2021.

Jin, Y., R. F. Keeling, E. Morgan, E. Ray, N. Parazoo, B. B. Stephens, 2021: A mass-weighted isentropic coordinate for mapping chemical tracers and computing inventories, Atmos. Chem. Phys., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-217-2021.

Birner , B., M. P. Chipperfield, E. J. Morgan, B. B. Stephens, M. Linz, W. Feng, C. Wilson, J.D. Bent, S. C. Wofsy, J. Severinghaus, and R. F. Keeling, 2020: Gravitational separation of Ar/N2 and age of air in the lowermost stratosphere in airborne observations and a chemical transport model, accepted to Atmos. Chem. Phys., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12391-2020.

Morgan, E. J., B. B. Stephens, M. C. Long, R. F. Keeling, J. D. Bent, K. McKain, C. Sweeney, M. S. Hoecker-Martínez, and E. A. Kort, 2019: Summertime atmospheric boundary layer gradients of O2 and CO2 over the Southern Ocean, J. Geophys. Res., 124, 13439-13456, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD031479.

Asher, E., R. S. Hornbrook, B. B. Stephens, D. Kinnison, E. J. Morgan, R. F. Keeling, E. L. Atlas, S. M. Schauffler, S. Tilmes, E. A. Kort, M. S. Hoecker-Martinez, M. C. Long, J. F. Lamarque, A. Saiz-Lopez, K. McKain, C. Sweeney, A. J. Hills, and E. C. Apel, 2019: Novel approaches to improve estimates of short-lived halocarbon emissions during summer from the Southern Ocean using airborne observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 14071–14090, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14071-2019.

Crowell, S., D. Baker, A. Schuh, S. Basu, A. R. Jacobson, F. Chevallier, J. J. Liu, F. Deng, L. Feng, K. McKain, A. Chatterjee, J. B. Miller, B. B. Stephens, A. Eldering, D. Crisp, D. Schimel, R. Nassar, C. O'Dell, T. Oda, C. Sweeney, P. I. Palmer, and D. B. A. Jones, 2019: The 2015–2016 carbon cycle as seen from OCO-2 and the global in situ network, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 9797–9831, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9797-2019.

Wanninkhof, R., P. A. Pickers, A. M. Omar, A. Sutton, A. Murata, A. Olsen, B. B. Stephens, B. Tilbrook, D. Munro, D. Pierrot, G. Rehder, J. M. Santana-Casiano, J. D. Muller, J. Trinanes, K. Tedesco, K. O'Brien, K. Currie, L. Barberols, M. Telszewski, M. Hoppema, M. Ishii, M. Gonzalez-Davila, N. R. Bates, N. Metzl, P. Suntharalingam, R. A. Feely, S. Nakaoka, S. K. Lauvset, T. Takahashi, T. Steinhoff, and U. Schuster, 2019: A surface ocean CO2 reference network, SOCONET and associated marine boundary layer CO2 measurements, Front. Mar. Sci., 6, 400, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00400.

D'Alessandro, J. J., M. Diao, C. Wu, X. Liu, J. B. Jensen, and B. B. Stephens, 2019: Cloud phase and relative humidity distributions over the Southern Ocean in austral summer based on in situ observations and CAM5 simulations. J. Climate, 32, 2781–2805, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0232.1.

Gaubert, B., B. B. Stephens, S. Basu, F. Chevallier, F. Deng, E. A. Kort, P. K. Patra, W. Peters, C. Rödenbeck, T. Saeki, D. Schimel, I. Van der Laan-Luijkx, S. Wofsy, and Y. Yin, 2019: Global atmospheric CO2 inverse models converging on neutral tropical land exchange but disagreeing on fossil fuel and atmospheric growth rate, Biogeosciences, 16, 117-134, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-117-2019.

Fay, A. R., N. S. Lovenduski, G. A. McKinley, D. R. Munro, C. Sweeney, A. R. Gray, P. Landschützer, B. B. Stephens, T. Takahashi, and N. Williams, 2018: Utilizing the Drake Passage Time-series to understand variability and change in subpolar Southern Ocean pCO2, Biogeosciences, 15, 3841-3855, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-3841-2018.

Resplandy, L., R. F. Keeling, C. Rödenbeck, B. B. Stephens, S. Khatiwala, K. B. Rodgers, M. C. Long, L. Bopp, and P.P. Tans, 2018: Revision of global carbon fluxes based on a reassessment of oceanic and riverine carbon transport, Nature Geosciences, 11, 504–509, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0151-3.

Bares, R., J. C. Lin, S. W. Hoch, M. Baasandorj, D. L. Mendoza, B. Fasoli, L. Mitchell, D. Catharine, and B. B. Stephens, 2018: The wintertime co-variation of CO2 and criteria pollutants in an urban valley of the Western United States, J. Geophys. Res., 123, 2684–2703, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027917.

Mitchell, L. E., J. C. Lin, D. R. Bowling, D. E. Pataki, C. Strong, A. J. Schauer, R. Bares, S. E. Bush, B. B. Stephens, D. Mendoza, D. Mallia, L. Holland, K. R. Gurney, and J. R. Ehleringer, 2018: Long-term urban carbon dioxide observations reveal spatial and temporal dynamics related to urban characteristics and growth, PNAS, 115, 2912-2917, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1702393115.

Stephens, B. B., M. C. Long, R. F. Keeling, E. A. Kort, C. Sweeney, E. C. Apel, E. L. Atlas, S. Beaton, J. D. Bent, N. J. Blake, J. F. Bresch, J. Casey, B. C. Daube, M. H. Diao, E. Diaz, H. Dierssen, V. Donets, B. C. Gao, M. Gierach, R. Green, J. Haag, M. Hayman, A. J. Hills, M. S. Hoecker-Martinez, S. B. Honomichl, R. S. Hornbrook, J. B. Jensen, R. R. Li, I. McCubbin, K. McKain, E. J. Morgan, S. Nolte, J. G. Powers, B. Rainwater, K. Randolph, M. Reeves, S. M. Schauffler, K. Smith, M. Smith, J. Stith, G. Stossmeister, D. W. Toohey, and A. S. Watt, 2018: The O2/N2 Ratio and CO2 Airborne Southern Ocean (ORCAS) Study. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0206.1.

Chatterjee, A., M. M. Gierach, A. J. Sutton, R. A. Feely, D. Crisp, A. Eldering, M. R. Gunson, C. W. O’Dell, B. B. Stephens, and D. S. Schimel, 2017: Influence of El Niño on atmospheric CO2 over the tropical Pacific Ocean: Findings from NASA's OCO-2 mission. Science, 358, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam5776.

Lin, J. C., D. Mallia, D. Wu, and B. B. Stephens, 2017: How can mountaintop CO2 observations be used to constrain regional carbon fluxes? Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5561-5581, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5561-2017.

Kulawik, S. S., C. O’Dell, V. H. Payne, L. Kuai, H. Worden, S. C. Biraud, C. Sweeney, B. Stephens, L. Iraci, E. Yates, and T. Tanaka, 2017: Lower-tropospheric CO2 from near-infrared ACOS-GOSAT observations. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5407-5438, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5407-2017.

Steinkamp, K., S. E. Mikaloff Fletcher, G. Brailsford, D. Smale, S. Moore, E. D. Keller, W. T. Baisden, H. Mukai, and B. B. Stephens, 2017: Atmospheric CO2 observations and models suggest strong carbon uptake by forests in New Zealand. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 47-76, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-47-2017.

Nevison, C. D., M. Manizza, R. F. Keeling, B. B. Stephens, J. D. Bent, J. Dunne, T. Ilyina, M. Long, L. Resplandy, J. Tjiputra, and S. Yukimoto, 2016: Evaluating CMIP5 ocean biogeochemistry and Southern Ocean carbon uptake using atmospheric potential oxygen: Present-day performance and future projection. Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 2077–2085, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL067584.

Resplandy, L., R. F. Keeling, B. B. Stephens, J. D. Bent, A. Jacobson, C. Rödenbeck, and S. Khatiwala, 2016: Constraints on oceanic meridional heat transport from combined measurements of oxygen and carbon. Clim. Dyn., 47, 3335–3357, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3029-3, plus correction Clim. Dyn., 49, 4317, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3839-y.

Munro, D. R., N. S. Lovenduski, T. Takahashi, B. B. Stephens, T. Newberger, and C. Sweeney, 2015: Recent evidence for a strengthening CO2 sink in the Southern Ocean from carbonate system measurements in the Drake Passage (2002-2015). Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 7623–7630, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL065194.

Munro, D. R., N. S. Lovenduski, B. B. Stephens, C. Sweeney, K. R. Arrigo, T. Newberger, T. Takahashi, and P. D. Quay, 2015: Estimates of net community production in the Southern Ocean determined from time series observations of nutrients and dissolved inorganic carbon in Drake Passage. Deep Sea Res. II, 114, 49-63, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2014.12.014.

Schimel, D., B. B. Stephens, and J. B. Fisher, 2015: Effect of increasing CO2 on the terrestrial carbon cycle. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 112, 441-446, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1407302112.

Patra, P. K., M. C. Krol, S. A. Montzka, T. Arnold, E. L. Atlas, B. R. Lintner, B. B. Stephens, B. Xiang, J. W. Elkins, P. J. Fraser, A. Ghosh, E. J. Hintsa, D. F. Hurst, K. Ishijima, P. B. Krummel, B. R. Miller, K. Miyazaki, F. L. Moore, J. Muhle, S. O'Doherty, R. G. Prinn, L. P. Steele, M. Takigawa, H. J. Wang, R. F. Weiss, S. C. Wofsy, and D. Young, 2014: Observational evidence for interhemispheric hydroxyl-radical parity. Nature, 513, 219-223, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13721.

Santoni, G. W., B. C. Daube, E. A. Kort, R. Jiménez, S. Park, J. V. Pittman, E. Gottlieb, B. Xiang, M. S. Zahniser, D. D. Nelson, J. B. McManus, J. Peischl, T. B. Ryerson, J. S. Holloway, A. E. Andrews, C. Sweeney, B. Hall, E. J. Hintsa, F. L. Moore, J. W. Elkins, D. F. Hurst, B. B. Stephens, J. Bent, and S. C. Wofsy, 2014: Evaluation of the airborne quantum cascade laser spectrometer (QCLS) measurements of the carbon and greenhouse gas suite—CO2, CH4, N2O, and CO—during the CalNex and HIPPO campaigns. Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1509-1526, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1509-2014.

Bowling, D. R., A. P. Ballantyne, J. B. Miller, S. P. Burns, T. J. Conway, O. Menzer, B. B. Stephens, and B. H. Vaughn, 2014: Ecological processes dominate the 13C land disequilibrium in a Rocky Mountain subalpine forest. Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 28, 352–370, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GB004686.

Basu, S., S. Guerlet, A. Butz, S. Houweling, O. Hasekamp, I. Aben, P. Krummel, P. Steele, R. Langenfelds, M. Torn, S. Biraud, B. Stephens, A. Andrews, and D. Worthy, 2013: Global CO2 fluxes estimated from GOSAT retrievals of total column CO2. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 8695-8717, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8695-2013.

Graven, H. D., R. F. Keeling, S. C. Piper, P. K. Patra, B. B. Stephens, S. C. Wofsy, L. R. Welp, C. Sweeney, P. P. Tans, J. J. Kelley, B. C. Daube, E. A. Kort, G. W. Santoni, and J. D. Bent, 2013: Enhanced seasonal exchange of CO2 by northern ecosystems since 1960. Science, 341, 1085-1089, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1239207.

Kulawik, S. S., J. R. Worden, S. C. Wofsy, S. C. Biraud, R. Nassar, D. B. A. Jones, E. T. Olsen, R. Jimenez, S. Park, G. W. Santoni, B. C. Daube, J. V. Pittman, B. B. Stephens, E. A. Kort, G. B. Osterman, and TES team, 2013: Comparison of improved Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer CO2 with HIPPO and SGP aircraft profile measurements. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 3205-3225, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-3205-2013.

Stephens, B. B., G. Brailsford, A. J. Gomez, K. Riedel, S. Nichol, and M. Manning, 2013: Analysis of a 39-year continuous atmospheric CO2 record from Baring Head, New Zealand. Biogeosciences, 10, 2683-2697, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-2683-2013.

Keppel-Aleks, G., J. T. Randerson, K. Lindsay, B. B. Stephens, J. K. Moore, S. C. Doney, P. E. Thornton, N. M. Mahowald, F. M. Hoffman, C. Sweeney, P. P. Tans, P. O. Wennberg, and S. C. Wofsy, 2013: Atmospheric carbon dioxide variability in the Community Earth System Model: Evaluation and transient dynamic during the 20th and 21st centuries. J. Climate, 26, 4447-4475, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00589.1.

Moore, D. J. P, N. A. Trahan, P. Wilkes, T. Quaife, B. B. Stephens, K. Elder, A. R. Desai, J. Negron, and R. K. Monson, 2013: Persistent reduced ecosystem respiration after insect disturbance in high elevation forests. Ecol. Lett., 16, 731–737, https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12097.

Brailsford, G., B. B. Stephens, A. J. Gomez, K. Riedel, S. Nichol, and M. Manning, 2012: Long term continuous atmospheric CO2 measurements at Baring Head, New Zealand. Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 3109-3117, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-5-3109-2012.

McKain, K., S. C. Wofsy, T. Nehrkorn, J. Eluszkiewicz, J. R. Ehleringer, and B. B. Stephens, 2012: Assessment of ground-based atmospheric observations for verification of greenhouse gas emissions from an urban region. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 109, 8423-8428, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1116645109.

Brooks, B.-G. J., A. R. Desai, B. B. Stephens, D. R. Bowling, S. P. Burns, A. S. Watt, S. L. Heck, and C. Sweeney, 2012: Assessing filtering of mountaintop CO2 mole fractions for application to inverse models of biosphere-atmosphere carbon exchange. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 2099-2115, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-2099-2012.

Keppel-Aleks, G., P. O. Wennberg, R. A. Washenfelder, D. Wunch, T. Schneider, G. C. Toon, R. Andres, J.-F. Blavier, B. Connor, K. A. Davis, A. R. Desai, J. Messerschmidt, J. Notholt, C. M. Roehl, V. Sherlock, B. B. Stephens, S. A. Vay, and S.C. Wofsy, 2012: The imprint of surface fluxes and transport on variations in total column carbon dioxide. Biogeosciences, 9, 875-891, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-875-2012.

Stephens, B. B., N. L. Miles, S. J. Richardson, A. S. Watt, and K. J. Davis, 2011: Atmospheric CO2 monitoring with single-cell NDIR-based analyzers. Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 2737-2748, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-4-2737-2011.

Strong, C., C. Stwertka, D. R. Bowling, B. B. Stephens, and J. R. Ehleringer, 2011: Urban carbon dioxide cycles within the Salt Lake Valley: a multiple box model validated by observations. J. Geophy. Res., 116, D15307, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD015693.

Desai, A. R., D. J. P. Moore, W. K. M. Ahue, P. J. Wilkes, S. F. J. De Wekker, B.-G. Brooks , T. L. Campos, B. B. Stephens, R.K. Monson, S. Burns, T. Quaife, S. Aulenbach, and D. S. Schimel, 2011: Seasonal pattern of regional carbon balance in the Central Rocky Mountains from the Airborne Carbon in the Mountains Experiment 2007. J. Geophys. Res., 116, G04009, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001655.

Wofsy, S. C., the HIPPO Science Team and Cooperating Modellers and Satellite Teams, 2011: HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO): Fine grained, global scale measurements for determining rates for transport, surface emissions, and removal of climatically important atmospheric gases and aerosols. Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 369 (1943) 2073-2086, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2010.0313.

Burns, S. P., J. Sun, D. H. Lenschow, S. P. Oncley, B. B. Stephens, C. Yi, D. E. Anderson, J. Hu, and R. K. Monson, 2011: Atmospheric stability effects on wind fields and scalar mixing within and just above a subalpine forest in sloping terrain. Bound. Layer. Meteor., 138, 231–262, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-010-9560-6, plus correction Bound. Layer. Meteor., 172, 481–484, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-019-00436-5.

Wunch, D., G. C. Toon, P. O. Wennberg, S. C. Wofsy, B. B. Stephens, M. L. Fischer, O. Uchino, J. B. Abshire, P. Bernath, S. C. Biraud, J.-F. L. Blavier, C. Boone, K. P. Bowman, E. V. Browell, T. Campos, B. J. Connor, B. C. Daube, N. M. Deutscher, M. Diao, J. W. Elkins, C. Gerbig, E. Gottlieb, D. W. T. Griffith, D. F. Hurst, R. Jimenez, G. Keppel-Aleks, E. A. Kort, R. Macatangay, T. Machida, H. Matsueda, F. Moore, I. Morino, S. Park, J. Robinson, C. M. Roehl, Y. Sawa, V. Sherlock, C. Sweeney, T. Tanaka, and M. A. Zondlo, 2010: Calibration of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network using aircraft profile data, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 3, 1351-1362, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-3-1351-2010.

Subramanian, R., G. L. Kok, D. Baumgardner, A. Clarke, Y. Shinozuka, T. L. Campos, C. G. Heizer, B. B. Stephens, B. de Foy, P. B. Voss, R. and A. Zaveri, 2010: Black carbon over Mexico: the effect of atmospheric transport on mixing state, mass absorption cross-section, and BC/CO ratios. Atm. Chem. Phys., 10, 219-237, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-219-2010.

Sun, J., S. Oncley, S. Burns, B. Stephens, A. Watt, T. Campos, D. Lenschow, R. Monson, J. Hu, M. Tschudi, D. Schimel, S. Aulenbach, W. Sacks, S. de Wekker, C.-T. Lai, B. Lamb, E. Allwine, T. Coons, D. Ojima, P. Ellsworth, L. Sternberg, S. Zhong, C. Clements, and D. Anderson, 2010: A multi-scale and multi-disciplinary investigation of ecosystem-atmosphere CO2 exchange over the rocky mountains of Colorado. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 91, 209-230, https://doi.org/10.1175/2009BAMS2733.1.

Kort, E. A., A. E. Andrews, E. Dlugokencky, C. Sweeney, A. Hirsch, J. Eluszkiewicz, T. Nehrkorn, A. Michalak, B. Stephens, C. Gerbig, J. B. Miller, J. Kaplan, S. Houweling, B. C. Daube, P. Tans, and S. C. Wofsy, 2010: Atmospheric constraints on 2004 emissions of methane and nitrous oxide in North America from atmospheric measurements and a receptor-oriented modelling framework. J. Integrative Env. Sci., 7, 125, https://doi.org/10.1080/19438151003767483.

De Wekker, S. F. J., A. Ameen, G. Song, B. B. Stephens, A. G. Hallar, and I. B. McCubbin, 2009: A preliminary investigation of boundary layer effects on daytime atmospheric CO2 concentrations at a mountaintop location in the Rocky Mountains. Acta Geophys., 57, 904, https://doi.org/10.2478/s11600-009-0033-6.

Burns, S. P., A. C. Delany, J. Sun, B. B. Stephens, S. P. Oncley, G. D. Maclean, S. R. Semmer, J. Schröter, and J. Ruppert, 2009: An evaluation of calibration techniques for in situ carbon dioxide measurements using a programmable portable trace-gas measuring system. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 26, 291, https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JTECHA1080.1.

Graven, H. D., B. B. Stephens, T. P. Guilderson, T. L. Campos, D. S. Schimel, and J. E. Campbell, 2008: Vertical profiles of biospheric and fossil fuel-derived CO2 and fossil fuel CO2:CO ratios from airborne measurements of 14C, CO2, and CO above Colorado, USA. Tellus B, 61, 536, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2009.00421.x.

Kort, E. A., J. Eluszkiewicz, B. B. Stephens, J. B. Miller, C. Gerbig, T. Nehrkorn, B. C. Daube, J. O. Kaplan, S. Houweling, and S. C. Wofsy, 2008: Emissions of CH4 and N2O over the United States and Canada based on a receptor-oriented modeling framework and COBRA-NA atmospheric observations. Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L18808, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL034031.

Obrist, D., A. G. Hallar, I. McCubbin, B. B. Stephens, and T. Rahn, 2008: Atmospheric mercury concentrations at Storm Peak Laboratory in the Rocky Mountains: Evidence for long-range transport from Asia, boundary layer contributions, and plant mercury uptake. Atmos. Environ., 42, 7579-7589, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008.06.051.

Stephens, B. B., K. R. Gurney, P. P. Tans, C. Sweeney, W. Peters, L. Bruhwiler, P. Ciais, M. Ramonet, P. Bousquet, T. Nakazawa, S. Aoki, T. Machida, G. Inoue, N. Vinnichenko, J. Lloyd, A. Jordan, M. Heimann, O. Shibistova, R. L. Langenfelds, L. P. Steele, R. J. Francey, and A. S. Denning, 2007: Weak northern and strong tropical land carbon uptake from vertical profiles of atmospheric CO2. Science, 316, 1732-1735, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1137004.

Sun, J., S. P. Burns, A. C. Delany, S. P. Oncley, A. A. Turnipseed, B. B. Stephens, D. H. Lenschow, M. A. LeMone, R. K. Monson, and D. E. Anderson, 2007: CO2 transport over complex terrain. Agric. For. Meteorol., 145, 1–21, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2007.02.007.

Stephens, B. B., P. S. Bakwin, P. P. Tans, R. M. Teclaw, and D. D. Baumann, 2007: Application of a differential fuel-cell analyzer for measuring atmospheric oxygen variations. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 24, 82–94, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH1959.1.

Lin, J. C., C. Gerbig, S. C. Wofsy, A. E. Andrews, B. C. Daube, C. A. Grainger, B. B. Stephens, P. S. Bakwin, and D. Y. Hollinger, 2004: Measuring fluxes of trace gases at regional scales by Lagrangian observations: Application to the CO2 Budget and Rectification Airborne (COBRA) study. J. Geophys. Res., 109, D15304, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004754.

Gerbig, C., J. C. Lin, S. C. Wofsy, B. C. Daube, A. E. Andrews, B. B. Stephens, P. S. Bakwin, and C. A. Grainger, 2003: Toward constraining regional-scale fluxes of CO2 with atmospheric observations over a continent: 2. Analysis of COBRA data using a receptor-oriented framework. J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D24), 4757, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003770.

Gerbig, C., J. C. Lin, S. C. Wofsy, B. C. Daube, A. E. Andrews, B. B. Stephens, P. S. Bakwin, and C. A. Grainger, 2003: Toward constraining regional-scale fluxes of CO2 with atmospheric observations over a continent: 1. Observed spatial variability from airborne platforms. J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D24), 4756, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD003018.

Dilling, L., S. C. Doney, J. Edmonds, K. R. Gurney, R. Harriss, D. Schimel, B. Stephens, and G. Stokes, 2003: The role of carbon cycle observations and knowledge in carbon management. Ann. Rev. Environ. Resources, 28, 521-558, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.energy.28.011503.163443.

Bakwin, P. S., P. P. Tans, B. B. Stephens, S. C. Wofsy, C. H. Gerbig, and A. Grainger, 2003: Strategies for measurement of atmospheric column means of carbon dioxide from aircraft using discrete sampling. J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D16), 4514, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD003306.

Stephens, B. B., R. F. Keeling, and W. J. Paplawsky, 2003: Shipboard measurements of atmospheric oxygen using a vacuum-ultraviolet absorption technique. Tellus B, 55, 857-878, http://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v55i4.16386.

Keeling, R. F. and B. B. Stephens, 2001: Antarctic sea ice and the control of Pleistocene climate instability. Paleoceanography, 16, 112-131, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000PA000529, plus typesetting correction, Paleoceanography, 16, 330-334, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001PA000648.

Stephens, B. B. and R. F. Keeling, 2000: The influence of Antarctic sea ice on glacial-interglacial CO2 variations. Nature, 404, 171–174, https://doi.org/10.1038/35004556.

Stephens, B. B., S. C. Wofsy, R. F. Keeling, P. P. Tans, and M. J. Potosnak, 2000: The CO2 Budget and Rectification Airborne Study: Strategies for measuring rectifiers and regional fluxes. Inverse Methods in Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Geophys. Monogr. Ser., 114, Amer. Geophys. Union, 311–324, https://doi.org/10.1029/GM114p0311.

Stephens, B. B., R. F. Keeling, M. Heimann, K. D. Six, R. Murnane, and K. Caldeira, 1998: Testing global ocean carbon cycle models using measurements of atmospheric O2 and CO2 concentration. Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 12, 213–230, https://doi.org/10.1029/97GB03500.

Keeling, R. F., B. B. Stephens, R. G. Najjar, S. C. Doney, D. Archer, and M. Heimann, 1998: Seasonal variations in the atmospheric O2/N2 ratio in relation to the kinetics of air-sea gas exchange. Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 12, 141–163, https://doi.org/10.1029/97GB02339.

Winston, G. C., E. T. Sundquist, B. B. Stephens, and S. E. Trumbore, 1997: Winter CO2 fluxes in a boreal forest. J. Geophys. Res., 102, 28795–28804, https://doi.org/10.1029/97JD01115.

Winston, G. C., B. B. Stephens, E. T. Sundquist, J. P. Hardy, and R. E. Davis, 1995: Seasonal variability in CO2 transport through snow in a boreal forest. In Biogeochemistry of Seasonally Snow-Covered Catchments, K. A. Tonnessen, M. W. Williams, and M. Tranter, Eds., IAHS publ. no. 228, 61-70, https://iahs.info/uploads/dms/iahs_228_0061.pdf.

Non-refereed Publications

Stephens, B. B., 2014: Interview with Britton Stephens. Carbon Management, 5, 109-113, https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2014.912824.

Smale, D., V. Sherlock, D. W. T. Griffith, R. Moss, G. Brailsford, M. Kotkamp, and B. Stephens, 2014: Furtherance of the CO2 measurement error characterisation for the prototype in situ FTIR trace gas analyser operated at Lauder, New Zealand. 17th WMO/IAEA Meeting on Carbon Dioxide, Other Greenhouse Gases, and Related Measurement Techniques (GGMT-2013), GAW Report 213, 130-137, https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=16373.

Brailsford, G. W., B. Stephens, S. Mikaloff-Fletcher, S. Nichol, K. Riedel, J. McGregor, and K. Steinkamp, 2014: Baring Head CO2—four decades of observations in New Zealand. 17th WMO/IAEA Meeting on Carbon Dioxide, Other Greenhouse Gases, and Related Measurement Techniques (GGMT-2013), GAW Report 213, 72-76, https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=16373.

Smale, D., and Coauthors, 2012: In situ FTIR trace gas analyser measurements of CO2 at Lauder, New Zealand: error characterisation and comparisons with co-located in situ measurements. 16th WMO/IAEA Meeting on Carbon Dioxide, Other Greenhouse Gases, and Related Measurement Techniques (GGMT-2011), GAW Report 206, 121-127, https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=14214.

Brailsford, G. W., and Coauthors, 2011: In situ and ground-based remote sensing measurements of atmospheric CO2 in New Zealand. 15th WMO/IAEA Meeting of Experts on Carbon Dioxide Concentration and Related Tracers Measurement Techniques, WMO TD 1553, 7-11, https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=4748.

Stephens, B. B., 2011: Greenhouse gas emissions: How to manage what cannot be measured. Carbon Management, 2, 1-4, https://doi.org/10.4155/cmt.10.37.

Stephens, B. B., 2007: Scientists hunting for missing carbon may have been looking in the wrong place, Scitizen, http://scitizen.com/climate-change/scientists-hunting-for-missing-carbon-may-hav....

Stephens, B., A. Watt, and G. Maclean, 2006: An autonomous inexpensive robust CO2 analyzer (AIRCOA). 13th WMO/IAEA Meeting of Experts on Carbon Dioxide Concentration and Related Tracers Measurement Techniques, WMO TD 1359, 95-99, http://library.wmo.int/pmb_ged/wmo-td_1359.pdf.

Doney, S. C., and Coauthors, 2004: Ocean Carbon and Climate Change (OCCC): An Implementation Strategy for U. S. Ocean Carbon Cycle Science, UCAR, Boulder, CO, 108pp, https://www.carboncyclescience.us/sites/default/files/documents/occc_is_2004.pdf.

Stephens, B. B. and P. P. Tans, 2002: Atmospheric Observations (Chapter 2), in A Large-Scale CO2 Observing Plan: In Situ Oceans and Atmosphere (LSCOP), 21-53, http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/global/pdf/lscop2002.pdf.

Stephens, B. B., 1999: Field-based atmospheric oxygen measurements and the ocean carbon cycle. Ph.D. thesis, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 221 pp, https://archive.eol.ucar.edu/homes/stephens/papers/stephens_dissertation.pdf.

Stephens, B. B., 1993: An investigation of natural and anthropogenic influences on stratospheric ozone trends, Senior honors thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge, 122 pp.

Curriculum Vitae