World oceans cover more than 70% of the earth surface and constitutes a major sink of atmospheric CO2. Two of the most important gases in the marine carbon cycling are O2 and CO2 and hence accurate descriptions of the air-sea gas exchange of these gases are crucial. Still there is a lack of knowledge of the relative importance of processes controlling the efficiency of the air-sea gas transfer. This is especially true for Arctic and high latitude seas were studies on air-sea gas exchange are few. By studying processes causing water-side turbulence, using gases of different solubility and various measurement techniques, more knowledge on the governing processes can be obtained. Here we present the very first air-sea fluxes of O2 using atmospheric eddy covariance measurements and investigate the dependence between the gas transfer velocity of O2 and turbulence generated by the mean wind. The instrument was found to suffer from the limited precision and time response, causing significant corrections on the O2 flux. After correcting for this, the O2 fluxes displays an anti-correlation with the air-sea fluxes of CO2 in agreement with the measured air-sea gradient of O2. The transfer velocities for O2 indicates a stronger wind dependence than other commonly used parameterizations of the transfer velocity for CO2 and O2, this especially for wind speeds > 5 m s-1 where the typical onset of wave breaking occur. During two winter months eddy covariance measurements were taken over a high Arctic fjord. The data revealed a significant enhancement of the gas transfer velocity for CO2 from water-side convection, generated by cooling of surface waters. The dependence between water-side convection and gas transfer velocity were found for winds as high as 9 m s-1, but were strongest for wind speeds< 7  m s-1.  The data also showed on enhanced air-sea gas transfer of CO2 when conditions were unstable very close to neutral. This enhanced transfer were associated to increased contribution to the CO2 flux from downdraft of air with higher concentrations of CO2.  The combined effect of water-side convection and turbulence generated by wind results in a very effective transfer, thus the air-sea gas exchange at these latitudes may be significantly underestimated.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an important greenhouse gas, and the atmospheric concentration of CO2 has increased by more than 100 ppm since prior to the industrial revolution.  The global oceans are considered an important sink of atmospheric CO2, since approximately one third of the anthropogenic emissions are absorbed by the oceans. To be able to model the global carbon cycle and the future climate, it is important to have knowledge of the processes controlling the air-sea exchange of CO2. In this thesis, measurements as well as a model is used in order to increase the knowledge of the exchange processes. The air-sea flux of CO2 is estimated from high frequency measurements using three methods; one empirical method, and two methods with a solid theoretical foundation. The methods are modified to be applicable for various atmospheric stratifications, and the agreement between methods is good in average. A new parameterization of the transfer velocity (the rate of transfer across the air-sea interface), is implemented in a Baltic Sea model. The new parameterization includes also the mechanism of water-side convection. The impact of including the new parameterization is relatively small due to feedback processes in the model. The new parameterization is however more representative for flux calculations using in-situ measurement or remote sensing products. When removing the feedback to the model, the monthly average flux increases by up to 20% in some months, compared to when water-side convection is not included. The Baltic Sea carbon budget was estimated using the Baltic Sea model, and the Baltic Sea was found to be a net sink of CO2. This is consistent with some previous studies, while contradictory to others. The dissimilarity between studies indicates the difficulty in estimating the carbon budget mainly due to variations of the CO2 uptake/release in time and space. Local variations not captured by the model, such as coastal upwelling, give uncertainties to the model. Coastal upwelling can alter the uptake/release of CO2 in a region by up to 250%. If upwelling would be included in the model, the Baltic Sea might be considered a smaller sink of CO2.