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<p>Atmospheric tracers are often used to interpret the local CO<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> budget, where measurements at a single height are assumed to represent local flux signatures. Alternatively, these signatures can be derived from direct flux measurements or by using fluxes derived from measurements at multiple heights. In this study, we contrast interpretation of surface CO<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> exchange from tracer measurements at a single height to measurements at multiple heights. Specifically, we analyse the ratio between atmospheric O<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> and CO<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> (exchange ratio, ER) above a forest. We consider the following two alternative approaches: the exchange ratio of the forest (ER<span class="inline-formula">_forest</span>) obtained from the ratio of the surface fluxes of O<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> and CO<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> derived from measurements at multiple heights, and the exchange ratio of the atmosphere (ER<span class="inline-formula">_atmos</span>) obtained from changes in the O<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> and CO<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> mole fractions over time measured at a single height. We investigate the diurnal cycle of both ER signals to better understand the biophysical meaning of the ER<span class="inline-formula">_atmos</span> signal. We have combined CO<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> and O<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> measurements from Hyytiälä, Finland, during spring and summer of 2018 and 2019 with a conceptual land–atmosphere model to investigate the behaviour of ER<span class="inline-formula">_atmos</span> and ER<span class="inline-formula">_forest</span>. We show that the CO<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> and O<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> signals as well as their resulting ERs are influenced by climate conditions such as variations in soil moisture and temperature, for example during the 2018 heatwave. We furthermore show that the ER<span class="inline-formula">_atmos</span> signal obtained from single-height measurements rarely represents the forest exchange directly, mainly because it is influenced by entrainment of air from the free troposphere into the atmospheric boundary layer. The influence of these larger-scale processes can lead to very high ER<span class="inline-formula">_atmos</span> values (even larger than 2), especially in the early morning. These high values do not directly represent carbon cycle processes, but are rather a mixture of different signals. We conclude that the ER<span class="inline-formula">_atmos</span> signal provides only a weak constraint on local-scale surface CO<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> exchange, and that ER<span class="inline-formula">_forest</span> above the canopy should be used instead. Single-height measurements always require careful selection of the time of day and should be combined with atmospheric modelling to yield a meaningful representation of forest carbon exchange. More generally, we recommend always measuring at multiple heights when using multi-tracer measurements to study surface CO<span class="inline-formula">₂</span> exchange.</p>