The Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature version 2.1 (MEGAN2.1): an extended and updated framework for modeling biogenic emissions

Abstract. The Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature version 2.1 (MEGAN2.1) is a modeling framework for estimating fluxes of 147 biogenic compounds between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere using simple mechanistic algorithms to account for the major known processes controlling biogenic emissions. It is available as an offline code and has also been coupled into land surface models and atmospheric chemistry models. MEGAN2.1 is an update from the previous versions including MEGAN2.0 for isoprene emissions and MEGAN2.04, which estimates emissions of 138 compounds. Isoprene comprises about half of the estimated total global biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emission of 1 Pg (1000 Tg or 1015 g). Another 10 compounds including methanol, ethanol, acetaldehyde, acetone, α-pinene, β-pinene, t−β-ocimene, limonene, ethene, and propene together contribute another 30% of the estimated emission. An additional 20 compounds (mostly terpenoids) are associated with another 17% of the total emission with the remaining 3% distributed among 125 compounds. Emissions of 41 monoterpenes and 32 sesquiterpenes together comprise about 15% and 3%, respectively, of the total global BVOC emission. Tropical trees cover about 18% of the global land surface and are estimated to be responsible for 60% of terpenoid emissions and 48% of other VOC emissions. Other trees cover about the same area but are estimated to contribute only about 10% of total emissions. The magnitude of the emissions estimated with MEGAN2.1 are within the range of estimates reported using other approaches and much of the differences between reported values can be attributed to landcover and meteorological driving variables. The offline version of MEGAN2.1 source code and driving variables is available from http://acd.ucar.edu/~guenther/MEGAN/MEGAN.htm and the version integrated into the Community Land Model version 4 (CLM4) can be downloaded from http://www.cesm.ucar.edu/.