Articles | Volume 24, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-689-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-689-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
17 Jan 2024
Research article |
| 17 Jan 2024
| 17 Jan 2024
The interhemispheric gradient of SF6 in the upper troposphere
Tanja J. Schuck
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Johannes Degen
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Eric Hintsa
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States
NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, United States
Peter Hoor
Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
Markus Jesswein
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Timo Keber
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Daniel Kunkel
Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
Fred Moore
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States
NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, United States
Florian Obersteiner
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Matt Rigby
School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
Thomas Wagenhäuser
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Luke M. Western
NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, United States
Andreas Zahn
School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
Andreas Engel
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
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Armin Rauthe-Schöch, Angela K. Baker, Tanja J. Schuck, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, Andreas Zahn, Markus Hermann, Greta Stratmann, Helmut Ziereis, Peter F. J. van Velthoven, and Jos Lelieveld
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We compared different ways to define the upper barrier of the troposphere in the extra-tropics, the “tropopause”. By analysing ozone distributions sorted by different definitions, we found that the traditional temperature-based tropopause works less well than dynamic or tracer-based definitions. We saw the strongest ozone gradients across the tropopause using a higher value of potential vorticity than often used and recommend this value for future studies of exchange processes in this region.
Tanja J. Schuck, Johannes Degen, Timo Keber, Katharina Meixner, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Mélanie Ghysels, Georges Durry, Nadir Amarouche, Alessandro Zanchetta, Steven van Heuven, Huilin Chen, Johannes C. Laube, Sophie L. Baartman, Carina van der Veen, Maria Elena Popa, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4333–4348, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4333-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4333-2025, 2025
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A balloon was launched in 2021 in the Arctic to carry instruments for trace gas measurements up to 32 km. One purpose was to compare measurement techniques. We focus on the major greenhouse gases. To measure these, air was sampled with the AirCore technique and with flask sampling, and samples were analysed after the flight. In flight, observations were done with an optical method. In a companion paper, we report on observations of chlorine and bromine containing trace gases.
Patrick Konjari, Christian Rolf, Michaela I. Hegglin, Susanne Rohs, Yun Li, Andreas Zahn, Harald Bönisch, Philippe Nedelec, Martina Krämer, and Andreas Petzold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4269–4289, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4269-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4269-2025, 2025
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This study introduces a new method to derive adjusted water vapor (H2O) climatologies for the upper tropopshere and lower statosphere (UT/LS) using data from 60 000 flights under the IAGOS program. Biases in the IAGOS water vapour dataset are adjusted, based on the more accurate IAGOS-CARIBIC data. The resulting highly resolved H2O climatologies will contribute to a better understanding of the H2O variability in the UT/LS and its connection to various transport and mixing processes.
Laura N. Saunders, Kaley A. Walker, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Florian Haenel, Hella Garny, Harald Bönisch, Chris D. Boone, Ariana E. Castillo, Andreas Engel, Johannes C. Laube, Marianna Linz, Felix Ploeger, David A. Plummer, Eric A. Ray, and Patrick E. Sheese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4185–4209, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4185-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4185-2025, 2025
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We present a 17-year stratospheric age-of-air dataset derived from ACE-FTS satellite measurements of sulfur hexafluoride. This is the longest continuous, global, and vertically resolved age of air time series available to date. In this paper, we show that this dataset agrees well with age-of-air datasets based on measurements from other instruments. We also present trends in the midlatitude lower stratosphere that indicate changes in the global circulation that are predicted by climate models.
Helen Walter-Terrinoni, John S. Daniel, Chelsea R. Thompson, and Luke M. Western
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-297, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-297, 2025
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We have developed a model to improve our ability to estimate emissions of chemicals that are used as foam blowing agents. Some of these chemicals are ozone-depleting substances and some are greenhouse gases. For HCFC-141b, which is the focus of this study, we find that recent observations are inconsistent with our calculated emissions, with our emissions being lower. This mismatch is similar to previous findings and may have important implications for compliance with the Montreal Protocol.
Paul Konopka, Felix Ploeger, Francesco D'Amato, Teresa Campos, Marc von Hobe, Shawn B. Honomichl, Peter Hoor, Laura L. Pan, Michelle L. Santee, Silvia Viciani, Kaley A. Walker, and Michaela I. Hegglin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1155, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1155, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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We present an improved version of the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS-3.0), which better represents transport from the lower atmosphere to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. By refining grid resolution and improving convection representation, the model more accurately simulates carbon monoxide transport. Comparisons with satellite and in situ observations highlight its ability to capture seasonal variations and improve our understanding of atmospheric transport.
Madhuri Umbarkar and Daniel Kunkel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-351, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-351, 2025
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Atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) significantly enhance vertical shear in the lowermost stratosphere (LMS), influencing turbulence and mixing in the extratropical transition layer. Using idealized baroclinic life cycle experiments with ICON model, this study demonstrates that moisture and cloud processes amplify GW activity, driving strong shear and turbulence in the LMS. These findings highlight the critical role of GWs in shaping the dynamics in the LMS, in particular for clear air turbulence.
Franziska Weyland, Peter Hoor, Daniel Kunkel, Thomas Birner, Felix Plöger, and Katharina Turhal
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1227–1252, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1227-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1227-2025, 2025
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The lowermost stratosphere (LMS) plays an important role in the Earth's climate, containing strong gradients of ozone and water vapor. Our results indicate that the thermodynamic structure of the LMS was changing between 1979–2019 in response to anthropogenic climate change and the recovery of stratospheric ozone, also indicating large-scale circulation changes. We find that both the upper and the lower LMS boundaries show an (upward) trend, which has implications for the LMS mass.
Nicolas Emig, Annette K. Miltenberger, Peter M. Hoor, and Andreas Petzold
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3919, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3919, 2025
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This study presents in situ observations of cirrus occurrence from aircraft measurements in the extra-tropical transition layer (ExTL) using simultaneous measurements from two platforms. Lagrangian diagnostics based on high-resolution ICON simulations show long residence times of the cirrus in stratospheric air allowing to separate different diabatic processes during transit. The findings suggest that radiative diabatic cloud processes significantly impact the tropopause thermodynamic structure.
Johannes Schneider, Christiane Schulz, Florian Rubach, Anna Ludwig, Jonas Wilsch, Philipp Joppe, Christian Gurk, Sergej Molleker, Laurent Poulain, Florian Obersteiner, Torsten Gehrlein, Harald Bönisch, Andreas Zahn, Peter Hoor, Nicolas Emig, Heiko Bozem, Stephan Borrmann, and Markus Hermann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3969, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3969, 2025
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IAGOS-CARIBIC operates an instrumented container laboratory on commercial regular passenger flights to obtain a long-term representative data set on the composition of the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere. Here we report on the development on a fully automated aerosol mass spectrometer for this project. We present technical specifications, necessary modifications for the automation, instrument calibration and comparisons, detection limits, and first in-flight data.
Johannes C. Laube, Tanja J. Schuck, Huilin Chen, Markus Geldenhuys, Steven van Heuven, Timo Keber, Maria Elena Popa, Elinor Tuffnell, Bärbel Vogel, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Alessandro Zanchetta, and Andreas Engel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4034, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4034, 2025
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A large balloon was launched in summer 2021 in the Arctic to carry instruments for trace gas measurements up to 32 km, above the reach of aircraft. The main aims were to evaluate different techniques and atmospheric processes. We focus on halogenated greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. For this, air was collected with the AirCore technique and a cryogenic air sampler and measured after the flight. A companion paper reports observations of major greenhouse gases.
Markus Jesswein, Valentin Lauther, Nicolas Emig, Peter Hoor, Timo Keber, Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Linda Ort, Tanja Schuck, Johannes Strobel, Ronja Van Luijt, C. Michael Volk, Franziska Weyland, and Andreas Engel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3946, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3946, 2025
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The study investigates transport within the Asian Summer Monsoon, focussing on how CH2Cl2 reaches the subarctic tropopause region. Using data from the PHILEAS campaign in 2023, events with increased mixing ratios were detected. Their origin, the transport paths to the tropopause region and the potential entry into the stratosphere were analysed. The East Asian Summer Monsoon was identified as the main transport pathway, with only a small contribution to the stratosphere in the following days.
Herman G.J. Smit, Torben Galle, Romain Blot, Florian Obersteiner, Philippe Nédélec, Andreas Zahn, Jean-Marc Cousin, Ulrich Bundke, Andreas Petzold, Valerie Thouret, and Hannah Clark
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3760, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3760, 2025
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The two ozone instruments of IAGOS (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observation System) have been compared with the Ozone PhotoMeter (OPM) of the World Calibration Center of Ozone Sondes (WCCOS) in an atmospheric simulation chamber under realistic flight conditions of pressure, temperature, and ozone concentrations. The two IAGOS-instruments showed good agreement with the OPM within 5–6 %. The observed differences are small but systematic and reproducible during the intercomparison.
Chun Hang Chau, Peter Hoor, and Holger Tost
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3805, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3805, 2024
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This study examines how the turbulence in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere could modify the tracer distribution under different situations. Using a multi-scale chemistry model, we find that both the pre-existing tracer gradient and the dynamical and thermodynamically forcing play a role in modifying the tracer distribution. These results allow further research on the UTLS turbulent mixing and its implications for the climate system.
Jasna V. Pittman, Bruce C. Daube, Steven C. Wofsy, Elliot L. Atlas, Maria A. Navarro, Eric J. Hintsa, Fred L. Moore, Geoff S. Dutton, James W. Elkins, Troy D. Thornberry, Andrew W. Rollins, Eric J. Jensen, Thaopaul Bui, Jonathan M. Dean-Day, and Leonhard Pfister
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3832, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3832, 2024
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Wildfires emit aerosols and precursors that once in the stratosphere could initiate stratospheric ozone loss. The Airborne Tropical TRopopause EXperiment campaign sampled the western Pacific, the dominant longitudes where surface air lofted by convection enters the global stratosphere. Aircraft measurements provided evidence of persistent pollution layers of biomass burning character at these longitudes in the lower stratosphere, largely originating from distant fires over Africa and Indonesia.
Rodrigo J. Seguel, Charlie Opazo, Yann Cohen, Owen R. Cooper, Laura Gallardo, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Peter Hoor, and Susanne Rohs
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3719, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3719, 2024
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We explored differences in ozone levels between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in the Stratosphere-troposphere exchange region. Using unique data from a research aircraft, we found significantly lower ozone levels (with stratospheric character) in the Southern Hemisphere, especially during years of severe ozone depletion. A Sudden Stratospheric Warming event in 2019 increased Southern Hemisphere ozone levels, highlighting the relationship between atmospheric events and ozone distribution.
Katharina Turhal, Felix Plöger, Jan Clemens, Thomas Birner, Franziska Weyland, Paul Konopka, and Peter Hoor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13653–13679, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13653-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13653-2024, 2024
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The tropopause separates the troposphere, where many greenhouse gases originate, from the stratosphere. This study examines a tropopause defined by potential vorticity – an analogue for angular momentum that changes sharply in the subtropics, creating a transport barrier. Between 1980 and 2017, this tropopause shifted poleward at lower altitudes and equatorward above, suggesting height-dependent changes in atmospheric circulation that may affect greenhouse gas distribution and global warming.
Markus Kilian, Volker Grewe, Patrick Jöckel, Astrid Kerkweg, Mariano Mertens, Andreas Zahn, and Helmut Ziereis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13503–13523, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13503-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13503-2024, 2024
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Anthropogenic emissions are a major source of precursors of tropospheric ozone. As ozone formation is highly non-linear, we apply a global–regional chemistry–climate model with a source attribution method (tagging) to quantify the contribution of anthropogenic emissions to ozone. Our analysis shows that the contribution of European anthropogenic emissions largely increases during large ozone periods, indicating that emissions from these sectors drive ozone values.
Eric A. Ray, Fred L. Moore, Hella Garny, Eric J. Hintsa, Bradley D. Hall, Geoff S. Dutton, David Nance, James W. Elkins, Steven C. Wofsy, Jasna Pittman, Bruce Daube, Bianca C. Baier, Jianghanyang Li, and Colm Sweeney
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12425–12445, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12425-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12425-2024, 2024
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In this study we describe new techniques to derive age of air from multiple simultaneous measurements of long-lived trace gases in order to improve the fidelity of the age-of-air estimates and to be able to compare age of air from measurements taken from different instruments, platforms and decades. This technique also allows new transport information to be obtained from the measurements such as the primary source latitude that can also be compared to models.
Randall Chiu, Florian Obersteiner, Alessandro Franchin, Teresa Campos, Adriana Bailey, Christopher Webster, Andreas Zahn, and Rainer Volkamer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5731–5746, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5731-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5731-2024, 2024
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The ozone sink into oceans and marine clouds is seldom studied and highly uncertain. Calculations suggest O3 destruction at aqueous surfaces (ocean, droplets) may be strongly accelerated, but field evidence is missing. Here we compare three fast airborne O3 instruments to measure eddy covariance fluxes of O3 over the remote ocean, in clear and cloudy air. We find O3 fluxes below clouds are consistently directed into clouds, while O3 fluxes into oceans are much smaller and spatially variable.
Luis F. Millán, Peter Hoor, Michaela I. Hegglin, Gloria L. Manney, Harald Boenisch, Paul Jeffery, Daniel Kunkel, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Hao Ye, Thierry Leblanc, and Kaley Walker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7927–7959, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7927-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7927-2024, 2024
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In the Observed Composition Trends And Variability in the UTLS (OCTAV-UTLS) Stratosphere-troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate (SPARC) activity, we have mapped multiplatform ozone datasets into coordinate systems to systematically evaluate the influence of these coordinates on binned climatological variability. This effort unifies the work of studies that focused on individual coordinate system variability. Our goal was to create the most comprehensive assessment of this topic.
Niklas Karbach, Lisa Höhler, Peter Hoor, Heiko Bozem, Nicole Bobrowski, and Thorsten Hoffmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4081–4086, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4081-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4081-2024, 2024
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The system presented here can accurately generate and reproduce a stable flow of gas mixtures of known concentrations over several days using ambient air as a dilution medium. In combination with the small size and low weight of the system, this enables the calibration of hydrogen sensors in the field, reducing the influence of matrix effects on the accuracy of the sensor. The system is inexpensive to assemble and easy to maintain, which is the key to reliable measurement results.
Philipp Joppe, Johannes Schneider, Katharina Kaiser, Horst Fischer, Peter Hoor, Daniel Kunkel, Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Andreas Marsing, Lenard Röder, Hans Schlager, Laura Tomsche, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Zahn, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7499–7522, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7499-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7499-2024, 2024
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From aircraft measurements in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere, we find a correlation between the ozone and particulate sulfate in the lower stratosphere. The correlation exhibits some variability over the measurement period exceeding the background sulfate-to-ozone correlation. From our analysis, we conclude that gas-to-particle conversion of volcanic sulfur dioxide leads to observed enhanced sulfate aerosol mixing ratios.
Hanqin Tian, Naiqing Pan, Rona L. Thompson, Josep G. Canadell, Parvadha Suntharalingam, Pierre Regnier, Eric A. Davidson, Michael Prather, Philippe Ciais, Marilena Muntean, Shufen Pan, Wilfried Winiwarter, Sönke Zaehle, Feng Zhou, Robert B. Jackson, Hermann W. Bange, Sarah Berthet, Zihao Bian, Daniele Bianchi, Alexander F. Bouwman, Erik T. Buitenhuis, Geoffrey Dutton, Minpeng Hu, Akihiko Ito, Atul K. Jain, Aurich Jeltsch-Thömmes, Fortunat Joos, Sian Kou-Giesbrecht, Paul B. Krummel, Xin Lan, Angela Landolfi, Ronny Lauerwald, Ya Li, Chaoqun Lu, Taylor Maavara, Manfredi Manizza, Dylan B. Millet, Jens Mühle, Prabir K. Patra, Glen P. Peters, Xiaoyu Qin, Peter Raymond, Laure Resplandy, Judith A. Rosentreter, Hao Shi, Qing Sun, Daniele Tonina, Francesco N. Tubiello, Guido R. van der Werf, Nicolas Vuichard, Junjie Wang, Kelley C. Wells, Luke M. Western, Chris Wilson, Jia Yang, Yuanzhi Yao, Yongfa You, and Qing Zhu
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2543–2604, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2543-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2543-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas 273 times more potent than carbon dioxide, have increased by 25 % since the preindustrial period, with the highest observed growth rate in 2020 and 2021. This rapid growth rate has primarily been due to a 40 % increase in anthropogenic emissions since 1980. Observed atmospheric N2O concentrations in recent years have exceeded the worst-case climate scenario, underscoring the importance of reducing anthropogenic N2O emissions.
Felicia Kolonjari, Patrick E. Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Chris D. Boone, David A. Plummer, Andreas Engel, Stephen A. Montzka, David E. Oram, Tanja Schuck, Gabriele P. Stiller, and Geoffrey C. Toon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2429–2449, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2429-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2429-2024, 2024
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The Canadian Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) satellite instrument is currently providing the only vertically resolved chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) measurements from space. This study assesses the most current ACE-FTS HCFC-22 data product in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, as well as modelled HCFC-22 from a 39-year run of the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM39) in the same region.
Hannah Chawner, Eric Saboya, Karina E. Adcock, Tim Arnold, Yuri Artioli, Caroline Dylag, Grant L. Forster, Anita Ganesan, Heather Graven, Gennadi Lessin, Peter Levy, Ingrid T. Luijkx, Alistair Manning, Penelope A. Pickers, Chris Rennick, Christian Rödenbeck, and Matthew Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4231–4252, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4231-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4231-2024, 2024
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The quantity of atmospheric potential oxygen (APO), derived from coincident measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2), has been proposed as a tracer for fossil fuel CO2 emissions. In this model sensitivity study, we examine the use of APO for this purpose in the UK and compare our model to observations. We find that our model simulations are most sensitive to uncertainties relating to ocean fluxes and boundary conditions.
Yann Cohen, Didier Hauglustaine, Bastien Sauvage, Susanne Rohs, Patrick Konjari, Ulrich Bundke, Andreas Petzold, Valérie Thouret, Andreas Zahn, and Helmut Ziereis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14973–15009, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14973-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14973-2023, 2023
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The upper troposphere–lower stratosphere (UTLS) is a key region regarding the lower atmospheric composition. This study consists of a comprehensive evaluation of an up-to-date chemistry–climate model in this layer, using regular in situ measurements based on passenger aircraft. For this purpose, a specific software (Interpol-IAGOS) has been updated and made publicly available. The model reproduces the carbon monoxide peaks due to biomass burning over the continental tropics particularly well.
Ioannis Katharopoulos, Dominique Rust, Martin K. Vollmer, Dominik Brunner, Stefan Reimann, Simon J. O'Doherty, Dickon Young, Kieran M. Stanley, Tanja Schuck, Jgor Arduini, Lukas Emmenegger, and Stephan Henne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14159–14186, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14159-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14159-2023, 2023
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The effectiveness of climate change mitigation needs to be scrutinized by monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Countries report their emissions to the UN in a bottom-up manner. By combining atmospheric observations and transport models someone can independently validate emission estimates in a top-down fashion. We report Swiss emissions of synthetic GHGs based on kilometer-scale transport and inverse modeling, highlighting the role of appropriate resolution in complex terrain.
Frederik Harzer, Hella Garny, Felix Ploeger, Harald Bönisch, Peter Hoor, and Thomas Birner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10661–10675, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10661-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10661-2023, 2023
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We study the statistical relation between year-by-year fluctuations in winter-mean ozone and the strength of the stratospheric polar vortex. In the latitude–pressure plane, regression analysis shows that anomalously weak polar vortex years are associated with three pronounced local ozone maxima over the polar cap relative to the winter climatology. These response maxima primarily reflect the non-trivial combination of different ozone transport processes with varying relative contributions.
Midhun George, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, Vladyslav Nenakhov, Yangzhuoran Liu, John Philip Burrows, Birger Bohn, Eric Förster, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Theresa Harlaß, Helmut Ziereis, Hans Schlager, Benjamin Schreiner, Flora Kluge, Katja Bigge, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7799–7822, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7799-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7799-2023, 2023
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The applicability of photostationary steady-state (PSS) assumptions to estimate the amount of the sum of peroxy radicals (RO2*) during the EMeRGe airborne observations from the known radical chemistry and onboard measurements of RO2* precursors, photolysis frequencies, and other trace gases such as NOx and O3 was investigated. The comparison of the calculated RO2* with the actual measurements provides an insight into the main processes controlling their concentration in the air masses measured.
Alison L. Redington, Alistair J. Manning, Stephan Henne, Francesco Graziosi, Luke M. Western, Jgor Arduini, Anita L. Ganesan, Christina M. Harth, Michela Maione, Jens Mühle, Simon O'Doherty, Joseph Pitt, Stefan Reimann, Matthew Rigby, Peter K. Salameh, Peter G. Simmonds, T. Gerard Spain, Kieran Stanley, Martin K. Vollmer, Ray F. Weiss, and Dickon Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7383–7398, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7383-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7383-2023, 2023
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Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were used in Europe pre-1990, damaging the stratospheric ozone layer. Legislation has controlled production and use, and global emissions have decreased sharply. The global rate of decline in CFC-11 recently slowed and was partly attributed to illegal emission in eastern China. This study concludes that emissions of CFC-11 in western Europe have not contributed to the unexplained part of the global increase in CFC-11 observed in the last decade.
Luis F. Millán, Gloria L. Manney, Harald Boenisch, Michaela I. Hegglin, Peter Hoor, Daniel Kunkel, Thierry Leblanc, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Kaley Walker, Krzysztof Wargan, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2957–2988, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2957-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2957-2023, 2023
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The determination of atmospheric composition trends in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) is still highly uncertain. We present the creation of dynamical diagnostics to map several ozone datasets (ozonesondes, lidars, aircraft, and satellite measurements) in geophysically based coordinate systems. The diagnostics can also be used to analyze other greenhouse gases relevant to surface climate and UTLS chemistry.
Jianghanyang Li, Bianca C. Baier, Fred Moore, Tim Newberger, Sonja Wolter, Jack Higgs, Geoff Dutton, Eric Hintsa, Bradley Hall, and Colm Sweeney
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2851–2863, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2851-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2851-2023, 2023
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Monitoring a suite of trace gases in the stratosphere will help us better understand the stratospheric circulation and its impact on the earth's radiation balance. However, such measurements are rare and usually expensive. We developed an instrument that can measure stratospheric trace gases using a low-cost sampling platform (AirCore). The results showed expected agreement with aircraft measurements, demonstrating this technique provides a low-cost and robust way to observe the stratosphere.
Elena Fillola, Raul Santos-Rodriguez, Alistair Manning, Simon O'Doherty, and Matt Rigby
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 1997–2009, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-1997-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-1997-2023, 2023
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Lagrangian particle dispersion models are used extensively for the estimation of greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes using atmospheric observations. However, these models do not scale well as data volumes increase. Here, we develop a proof-of-concept machine learning emulator that can produce outputs similar to those of the dispersion model, but 50 000 times faster, using only meteorological inputs. This works demonstrates the potential of machine learning to accelerate GHG estimations across the globe.
Thomas Wagenhäuser, Markus Jesswein, Timo Keber, Tanja Schuck, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3887–3903, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3887-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3887-2023, 2023
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A common assumption to derive mean age from trace gas observations is that all air enters the stratosphere through the tropical tropopause. Using SF6 as an age tracer, this leads to negative mean age values close to the Northern Hemispheric extra-tropical tropopause. Our improved method also considers extra-tropical input into the stratosphere. More realistic values are derived using this method. Interhemispheric differences in mean age are found when comparing data from two aircraft campaigns.
Chuan-Yao Lin, Wan-Chin Chen, Yi-Yun Chien, Charles C. K. Chou, Chian-Yi Liu, Helmut Ziereis, Hans Schlager, Eric Förster, Florian Obersteiner, Ovid O. Krüger, Bruna A. Holanda, Mira L. Pöhlker, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, Birger Bohn, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Benjamin Weyland, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2627–2647, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2627-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2627-2023, 2023
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During the EMeRGe campaign in Asia, atmospheric pollutants were measured on board the HALO aircraft. The WRF-Chem model was employed to evaluate the biomass burning (BB) plume transported from Indochina and its impact on the downstream areas. The combination of BB aerosol enhancement with cloud water resulted in a reduction in incoming shortwave radiation at the surface in southern China and the East China Sea, which potentially has significant regional climate implications.
Eric Förster, Harald Bönisch, Marco Neumaier, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Andreas Hilboll, Anna B. Kalisz Hedegaard, Nikos Daskalakis, Alexandros Panagiotis Poulidis, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Michael Lichtenstern, and Peter Braesicke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1893–1918, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1893-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1893-2023, 2023
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The airborne megacity campaign EMeRGe provided an unprecedented amount of trace gas measurements. We combine measured volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with trajectory-modelled emission uptakes to identify potential source regions of pollution. We also characterise the chemical fingerprints (e.g. biomass burning and anthropogenic signatures) of the probed air masses to corroborate the contributing source regions. Our approach is the first large-scale study of VOCs originating from megacities.
Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Peter Hoor, Daniel Kunkel, Martina Bramberger, Andreas Dörnbrack, Stefan Müller, Philipp Reutter, Andreas Giez, Thorsten Kaluza, and Markus Rapp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 355–373, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-355-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-355-2023, 2023
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We present an analysis of high-resolution airborne measurements during a flight of the DEEPWAVE 2014 campaign in New Zealand. The focus of this flight was to study the effects of enhanced mountain wave activity over the Southern Alps. We discuss changes in the upstream and downstream distributions of N2O and CO and show that these changes are related to turbulence-induced trace gas fluxes which have persistent effects on the trace gas composition in the lower stratosphere.
Hao Guo, Clare M. Flynn, Michael J. Prather, Sarah A. Strode, Stephen D. Steenrod, Louisa Emmons, Forrest Lacey, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Arlene M. Fiore, Gus Correa, Lee T. Murray, Glenn M. Wolfe, Jason M. St. Clair, Michelle Kim, John Crounse, Glenn Diskin, Joshua DiGangi, Bruce C. Daube, Roisin Commane, Kathryn McKain, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Chelsea Thompson, Thomas F. Hanisco, Donald Blake, Nicola J. Blake, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, James W. Elkins, Eric J. Hintsa, Fred L. Moore, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 99–117, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-99-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-99-2023, 2023
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We have prepared a unique and unusual result from the recent ATom aircraft mission: a measurement-based derivation of the production and loss rates of ozone and methane over the ocean basins. These are the key products of chemistry models used in assessments but have thus far lacked observational metrics. It also shows the scales of variability of atmospheric chemical rates and provides a major challenge to the atmospheric models.
Laura Tomsche, Andreas Marsing, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Johannes Lucke, Stefan Kaufmann, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, Monika Scheibe, Hans Schlager, Lenard Röder, Horst Fischer, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Martin Zöger, Jos Lelieveld, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15135–15151, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15135-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15135-2022, 2022
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The detection of sulfur compounds in the upper troposphere (UT) and lower stratosphere (LS) is a challenge. In-flight measurements of SO2 and sulfate aerosol were performed during the BLUESKY mission in spring 2020 under exceptional atmospheric conditions. Reduced sinks in the dry UTLS and lower but still significant air traffic influenced the enhanced SO2 in the UT, and aged volcanic plumes enhanced the LS sulfate aerosol impacting the atmospheric radiation budget and global climate.
Markus Jesswein, Rafael P. Fernandez, Lucas Berná, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Ryan Hossaini, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Elliot L. Atlas, Donald R. Blake, Stephen Montzka, Timo Keber, Tanja Schuck, Thomas Wagenhäuser, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15049–15070, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15049-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15049-2022, 2022
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This study presents the global and seasonal distribution of the two major brominated short-lived substances CH2Br2 and CHBr3 in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere based on observations from several aircraft campaigns. They show similar seasonality for both hemispheres, except in the respective hemispheric autumn lower stratosphere. A comparison with the TOMCAT and CAM-Chem models shows good agreement in the annual mean but larger differences in the seasonal consideration.
Paul Konopka, Mengchu Tao, Marc von Hobe, Lars Hoffmann, Corinna Kloss, Fabrizio Ravegnani, C. Michael Volk, Valentin Lauther, Andreas Zahn, Peter Hoor, and Felix Ploeger
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 7471–7487, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7471-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7471-2022, 2022
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Pure trajectory-based transport models driven by meteorology derived from reanalysis products (ERA5) take into account only the resolved, advective part of transport. That means neither mixing processes nor unresolved subgrid-scale advective processes like convection are included. The Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) includes these processes. We show that isentropic mixing dominates unresolved transport. The second most important transport process is unresolved convection.
Angharad C. Stell, Michael Bertolacci, Andrew Zammit-Mangion, Matthew Rigby, Paul J. Fraser, Christina M. Harth, Paul B. Krummel, Xin Lan, Manfredi Manizza, Jens Mühle, Simon O'Doherty, Ronald G. Prinn, Ray F. Weiss, Dickon Young, and Anita L. Ganesan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12945–12960, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12945-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12945-2022, 2022
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Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance, whose atmospheric abundance has risen throughout the contemporary record. In this work, we carry out the first global hierarchical Bayesian inversion to solve for nitrous oxide emissions. We derive increasing global nitrous oxide emissions over 2011–2020, which are mainly driven by emissions between 0° and 30°N, with the highest emissions recorded in 2020.
Marcel Zauner-Wieczorek, Martin Heinritzi, Manuel Granzin, Timo Keber, Andreas Kürten, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, and Joachim Curtius
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11781–11794, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11781-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11781-2022, 2022
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We present measurements of ambient ions in the free troposphere and lower stratosphere over Europe in spring 2020. We observed nitrate and hydrogen sulfate, amongst others. From their ratio, the number concentrations of gaseous sulfuric acid were inferred. Nitrate increased towards the stratosphere, whilst sulfuric acid was slightly decreased there. The average values for sulfuric acid were 1.9 to 7.8 × 105 cm-3. Protonated pyridine was identified in an altitude range of 4.6 to 8.5 km.
Simon F. Reifenberg, Anna Martin, Matthias Kohl, Sara Bacer, Zaneta Hamryszczak, Ivan Tadic, Lenard Röder, Daniel J. Crowley, Horst Fischer, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, Raphael Dörich, John N. Crowley, Laura Tomsche, Andreas Marsing, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Zahn, Christopher Pöhlker, Bruna A. Holanda, Ovid Krüger, Ulrich Pöschl, Mira Pöhlker, Patrick Jöckel, Marcel Dorf, Ulrich Schumann, Jonathan Williams, Birger Bohn, Joachim Curtius, Hardwig Harder, Hans Schlager, Jos Lelieveld, and Andrea Pozzer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10901–10917, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10901-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10901-2022, 2022
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In this work we use a combination of observational data from an aircraft campaign and model results to investigate the effect of the European lockdown due to COVID-19 in spring 2020. Using model results, we show that the largest relative changes to the atmospheric composition caused by the reduced emissions are located in the upper troposphere around aircraft cruise altitude, while the largest absolute changes are present at the surface.
Praveen Kumar Pothapakula, Amelie Hoff, Anika Obermann-Hellhund, Timo Keber, and Bodo Ahrens
Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2022-24, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2022-24, 2022
Preprint withdrawn
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The Vb-cyclones simulated with a coupled regional climate model with two different driving data sets are compared against each other in historical period, thereafter the future climate predictions were analyzed. The Vb-cyclones in two simulations agree well in terms of their occurrence, intensity and track in two simulations, though there are discrepancies in seasonal cycles and their process linking Mediterranean Sea in historical period. So significant changes were observed in the future.
Luke M. Western, Alison L. Redington, Alistair J. Manning, Cathy M. Trudinger, Lei Hu, Stephan Henne, Xuekun Fang, Lambert J. M. Kuijpers, Christina Theodoridi, David S. Godwin, Jgor Arduini, Bronwyn Dunse, Andreas Engel, Paul J. Fraser, Christina M. Harth, Paul B. Krummel, Michela Maione, Jens Mühle, Simon O'Doherty, Hyeri Park, Sunyoung Park, Stefan Reimann, Peter K. Salameh, Daniel Say, Roland Schmidt, Tanja Schuck, Carolina Siso, Kieran M. Stanley, Isaac Vimont, Martin K. Vollmer, Dickon Young, Ronald G. Prinn, Ray F. Weiss, Stephen A. Montzka, and Matthew Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9601–9616, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9601-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9601-2022, 2022
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The production of ozone-destroying gases is being phased out. Even though production of one of the main ozone-depleting gases, called HCFC-141b, has been declining for many years, the amount that is being released to the atmosphere has been increasing since 2017. We do not know for sure why this is. A possible explanation is that HCFC-141b that was used to make insulating foams many years ago is only now escaping to the atmosphere, or a large part of its production is not being reported.
Zaneta T. Hamryszczak, Andrea Pozzer, Florian Obersteiner, Birger Bohn, Benedikt Steil, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9483–9497, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9483-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9483-2022, 2022
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Hydrogen peroxide plays a pivotal role in the chemistry of the atmosphere. Together with organic hydroperoxides, it forms a reservoir for peroxy radicals, which are known to be the key contributors to the self-cleaning processes of the atmosphere. Hydroperoxides were measured over Europe during the BLUESKY campaign in May–June 2020. The paper gives an overview of the distribution of the species in the troposphere and investigates the impact of wet scavenging and deposition on the budget of H2O2.
Vivienne H. Payne, Susan S. Kulawik, Emily V. Fischer, Jared F. Brewer, L. Gregory Huey, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, John R. Worden, Kevin W. Bowman, Eric J. Hintsa, Fred Moore, James W. Elkins, and Julieta Juncosa Calahorrano
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3497–3511, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3497-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3497-2022, 2022
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We compare new satellite measurements of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) with reference aircraft measurements from two different instruments flown on the same platform. While there is a systematic difference between the two aircraft datasets, both show the same large-scale distribution of PAN and the discrepancy between aircraft datasets is small compared to the satellite uncertainties. The satellite measurements show skill in capturing large-scale variations in PAN.
Linda Smoydzin and Peter Hoor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7193–7206, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7193-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7193-2022, 2022
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Our study presents a detailed analysis of the spatial and temporal distribution of elevated CO level in the upper troposphere over the Pacific using 20 years of MOPITT data. We create a climatology of severe pollution episodes and use trajectory calculations to link each particular pollution event detected in MOPITT satellite data with a distinct source region. Additionally, we analyse uplift mechanisms such as WCB-related upward transport.
Clara M. Nussbaumer, Andrea Pozzer, Ivan Tadic, Lenard Röder, Florian Obersteiner, Hartwig Harder, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6151–6165, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6151-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6151-2022, 2022
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The European COVID-19 lockdowns have significantly reduced the emission of primary pollutants such as NOx, which impacts the tropospheric photochemical processes and the abundance of O3. In this study, we present how the lockdowns have affected tropospheric trace gases and ozone production based on in situ observations and modeling simulations. We additionally show that the chemical regime shifted from a transition point to a NOx limitation in the upper troposphere.
Guus J. M. Velders, John S. Daniel, Stephen A. Montzka, Isaac Vimont, Matthew Rigby, Paul B. Krummel, Jens Muhle, Simon O'Doherty, Ronald G. Prinn, Ray F. Weiss, and Dickon Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6087–6101, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6087-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6087-2022, 2022
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The emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have increased significantly in the past as a result of the phasing out of ozone-depleting substances. Observations indicate that HFCs are used much less in certain refrigeration applications than previously projected. Current policies are projected to reduce emissions and the surface temperature contribution of HFCs from 0.28–0.44 °C to 0.14–0.31 °C in 2100. The Kigali Amendment is projected to reduce the contributions further to 0.04 °C in 2100.
M. Dolores Andrés Hernández, Andreas Hilboll, Helmut Ziereis, Eric Förster, Ovid O. Krüger, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, Francesca Barnaba, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Jörg Schmidt, Heidi Huntrieser, Anne-Marlene Blechschmidt, Midhun George, Vladyslav Nenakhov, Theresa Harlass, Bruna A. Holanda, Jennifer Wolf, Lisa Eirenschmalz, Marc Krebsbach, Mira L. Pöhlker, Anna B. Kalisz Hedegaard, Linlu Mei, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Yangzhuoran Liu, Ralf Koppmann, Hans Schlager, Birger Bohn, Ulrich Schumann, Andreas Richter, Benjamin Schreiner, Daniel Sauer, Robert Baumann, Mariano Mertens, Patrick Jöckel, Markus Kilian, Greta Stratmann, Christopher Pöhlker, Monica Campanelli, Marco Pandolfi, Michael Sicard, José L. Gómez-Amo, Manuel Pujadas, Katja Bigge, Flora Kluge, Anja Schwarz, Nikos Daskalakis, David Walter, Andreas Zahn, Ulrich Pöschl, Harald Bönisch, Stephan Borrmann, Ulrich Platt, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5877–5924, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5877-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5877-2022, 2022
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EMeRGe provides a unique set of in situ and remote sensing airborne measurements of trace gases and aerosol particles along selected flight routes in the lower troposphere over Europe. The interpretation uses also complementary collocated ground-based and satellite measurements. The collected data help to improve the current understanding of the complex spatial distribution of trace gases and aerosol particles resulting from mixing, transport, and transformation of pollution plumes over Europe.
Alice E. Ramsden, Anita L. Ganesan, Luke M. Western, Matthew Rigby, Alistair J. Manning, Amy Foulds, James L. France, Patrick Barker, Peter Levy, Daniel Say, Adam Wisher, Tim Arnold, Chris Rennick, Kieran M. Stanley, Dickon Young, and Simon O'Doherty
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3911–3929, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3911-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3911-2022, 2022
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Quantifying methane emissions from different sources is a key focus of current research. We present a method for estimating sectoral methane emissions that uses ethane as a tracer for fossil fuel methane. By incorporating variable ethane : methane emission ratios into this model, we produce emissions estimates with improved uncertainty characterisation. This method will be particularly useful for studying methane emissions in areas with complex distributions of sources.
Helmut Ziereis, Peter Hoor, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Andreas Zahn, Greta Stratmann, Paul Stock, Michael Lichtenstern, Jens Krause, Vera Bense, Armin Afchine, Christian Rolf, Wolfgang Woiwode, Marleen Braun, Jörn Ungermann, Andreas Marsing, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Engel, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and Hermann Oelhaf
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3631–3654, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3631-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3631-2022, 2022
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Airborne observations were conducted in the lowermost Arctic stratosphere during the winter of 2015/2016. The observed distribution of reactive nitrogen shows clear indications of nitrification in mid-winter and denitrification in late winter. This was caused by the formation of polar stratospheric cloud particles, which were observed during several flights. The sedimentation and evaporation of these particles and the descent of air masses cause a redistribution of reactive nitrogen.
Jens Mühle, Lambert J. M. Kuijpers, Kieran M. Stanley, Matthew Rigby, Luke M. Western, Jooil Kim, Sunyoung Park, Christina M. Harth, Paul B. Krummel, Paul J. Fraser, Simon O'Doherty, Peter K. Salameh, Roland Schmidt, Dickon Young, Ronald G. Prinn, Ray H. J. Wang, and Ray F. Weiss
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3371–3378, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3371-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3371-2022, 2022
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Emissions of the strong greenhouse gas perfluorocyclobutane (c-C4F8) into the atmosphere have been increasing sharply since the early 2000s. These c-C4F8 emissions are highly correlated with the amount of hydrochlorofluorocarbon-22 produced to synthesize polytetrafluoroethylene (known for its non-stick properties) and related chemicals. From this process, c-C4F8 by-product is vented to the atmosphere. Avoiding these unnecessary c-C4F8 emissions could reduce the climate impact of this industry.
Lei Hu, Stephen A. Montzka, Fred Moore, Eric Hintsa, Geoff Dutton, M. Carolina Siso, Kirk Thoning, Robert W. Portmann, Kathryn McKain, Colm Sweeney, Isaac Vimont, David Nance, Bradley Hall, and Steven Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2891–2907, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2891-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2891-2022, 2022
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The unexpected increase in CFC-11 emissions between 2012 and 2017 resulted in concerns about delaying the stratospheric ozone recovery. Although the subsequent decline of CFC-11 emissions indicated a mitigation in part to this problem, the regions fully responsible for these large emission changes were unclear. Here, our new estimate, based on atmospheric measurements from two global campaigns and from NOAA, suggests Asia primarily contributed to the global CFC-11 emission rise during 2012–2017.
Valentin Lauther, Bärbel Vogel, Johannes Wintel, Andrea Rau, Peter Hoor, Vera Bense, Rolf Müller, and C. Michael Volk
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2049–2077, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2049-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2049-2022, 2022
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We show airborne in situ measurements of the very short-lived ozone-depleting substances CH2Cl2 and CHCl3, revealing particularly high concentrations of both species in the lower stratosphere. Back-trajectory calculations and 3D model simulations show that the air masses with high concentrations originated in the Asian boundary layer and were transported via the Asian summer monsoon. We also identify a fast transport pathway into the stratosphere via the North American monsoon and by hurricanes.
Andrew Zammit-Mangion, Michael Bertolacci, Jenny Fisher, Ann Stavert, Matthew Rigby, Yi Cao, and Noel Cressie
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 45–73, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-45-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-45-2022, 2022
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We present a framework for estimating the sources and sinks (flux) of carbon dioxide from satellite data. The framework is statistical and yields measures of uncertainty alongside all estimates of flux and other parameters in the underlying model. It also allows us to generate other insights, such as the size of errors and biases in the data. The primary aim of this research was to develop a fully statistical flux inversion framework for use by atmospheric scientists.
Markus Jesswein, Heiko Bozem, Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Peter Hoor, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Timo Keber, Tanja Schuck, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17225–17241, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17225-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17225-2021, 2021
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This study presents and compares inorganic chlorine (Cly) derived from observations with the HALO research aircraft in the Antarctic late winter–early fall 2019 and the Arctic winter 2015–2016. Trend-corrected correlations from the Northern Hemisphere show excellent agreement with those from the Southern Hemisphere. After observation allocation inside and outside the vortex based on N2O measurements, results of the two campaigns reveal substantial differences in Cly within the respective vortex.
Paul D. Hamer, Virginie Marécal, Ryan Hossaini, Michel Pirre, Gisèle Krysztofiak, Franziska Ziska, Andreas Engel, Stephan Sala, Timo Keber, Harald Bönisch, Elliot Atlas, Kirstin Krüger, Martyn Chipperfield, Valery Catoire, Azizan A. Samah, Marcel Dorf, Phang Siew Moi, Hans Schlager, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16955–16984, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16955-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16955-2021, 2021
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Bromoform is a stratospheric ozone-depleting gas released by seaweed and plankton transported to the stratosphere via convection in the tropics. We study the chemical interactions of bromoform and its derivatives within convective clouds using a cloud-scale model and observations. Our findings are that soluble bromine gases are efficiently washed out and removed within the convective clouds and that most bromine is transported vertically to the upper troposphere in the form of bromoform.
Jan C. Minx, William F. Lamb, Robbie M. Andrew, Josep G. Canadell, Monica Crippa, Niklas Döbbeling, Piers M. Forster, Diego Guizzardi, Jos Olivier, Glen P. Peters, Julia Pongratz, Andy Reisinger, Matthew Rigby, Marielle Saunois, Steven J. Smith, Efisio Solazzo, and Hanqin Tian
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5213–5252, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5213-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5213-2021, 2021
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We provide a synthetic dataset on anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 1970–2018 with a fast-track extension to 2019. We show that GHG emissions continued to rise across all gases and sectors. Annual average GHG emissions growth slowed, but absolute decadal increases have never been higher in human history. We identify a number of data gaps and data quality issues in global inventories and highlight their importance for monitoring progress towards international climate goals.
Mark F. Lunt, Alistair J. Manning, Grant Allen, Tim Arnold, Stéphane J.-B. Bauguitte, Hartmut Boesch, Anita L. Ganesan, Aoife Grant, Carole Helfter, Eiko Nemitz, Simon J. O'Doherty, Paul I. Palmer, Joseph R. Pitt, Chris Rennick, Daniel Say, Kieran M. Stanley, Ann R. Stavert, Dickon Young, and Matt Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16257–16276, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16257-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16257-2021, 2021
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We present an evaluation of the UK's methane emissions between 2013 and 2020 using a network of tall tower measurement sites. We find emissions that are consistent in both magnitude and trend with the UK's reported emissions, with a declining trend driven by a decrease in emissions from England. The impact of various components of the modelling set-up on these findings are explored through a number of sensitivity studies.
Yu-Wen Chen, Yi-Chun Chen, Charles C.-K. Chou, Hui-Ming Hung, Shih-Yu Chang, Lisa Eirenschmalz, Michael Lichtenstern, Helmut Ziereis, Hans Schlager, Greta Stratmann, Katharina Kaiser, Johannes Schneider, Stephan Borrmann, Florian Obersteiner, Eric Förster, Andreas Zahn, Wei-Nai Chen, Po-Hsiung Lin, Shuenn-Chin Chang, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, Pao-Kuan Wang, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-788, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-788, 2021
Preprint withdrawn
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By presenting an approach using EMeRGe-Asia airborne field measurements and surface observations, this study shows that the fraction of OH reactivity due to SO2-OH reaction has a significant correlation with the sulfate concentration. Approximately 30 % of sulfate is produced by SO2-OH reaction. Our results underline the importance of SO2-OH gas-phase oxidation in sulfate formation, and demonstrate that the method can be applied to other regions and under different meteorological conditions.
Eric J. Hintsa, Fred L. Moore, Dale F. Hurst, Geoff S. Dutton, Bradley D. Hall, J. David Nance, Ben R. Miller, Stephen A. Montzka, Laura P. Wolton, Audra McClure-Begley, James W. Elkins, Emrys G. Hall, Allen F. Jordan, Andrew W. Rollins, Troy D. Thornberry, Laurel A. Watts, Chelsea R. Thompson, Jeff Peischl, Ilann Bourgeois, Thomas B. Ryerson, Bruce C. Daube, Yenny Gonzalez Ramos, Roisin Commane, Gregory W. Santoni, Jasna V. Pittman, Steven C. Wofsy, Eric Kort, Glenn S. Diskin, and T. Paul Bui
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6795–6819, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6795-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6795-2021, 2021
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We built UCATS to study atmospheric chemistry and transport. It has measured trace gases including CFCs, N2O, SF6, CH4, CO, and H2 with gas chromatography, as well as ozone and water vapor. UCATS has been part of missions to study the tropical tropopause; transport of air into the stratosphere; greenhouse gases, transport, and chemistry in the troposphere; and ozone chemistry, on both piloted and unmanned aircraft. Its design, capabilities, and some results are shown and described here.
Clara M. Nussbaumer, Uwe Parchatka, Ivan Tadic, Birger Bohn, Daniel Marno, Monica Martinez, Roland Rohloff, Hartwig Harder, Flora Kluge, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Florian Obersteiner, Martin Zöger, Raphael Doerich, John N. Crowley, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6759–6776, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6759-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6759-2021, 2021
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NO2 plays a central role in atmospheric photochemical processes and requires accurate measurements. This research presents NO2 data obtained via chemiluminescence using a photolytic converter from airborne studies around Cabo Verde and laboratory investigations. We show the limits and error-proneness of a conventional blue light converter in aircraft measurements affected by humidity and NO levels and suggest the use of an alternative quartz converter for more reliable results.
Meike K. Rotermund, Vera Bense, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Andreas Engel, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Peter Hoor, Tilman Hüneke, Timo Keber, Flora Kluge, Benjamin Schreiner, Tanja Schuck, Bärbel Vogel, Andreas Zahn, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15375–15407, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15375-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15375-2021, 2021
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Airborne total bromine (Brtot) and tracer measurements suggest Brtot-rich air masses persistently protruded into the lower stratosphere (LS), creating a high Brtot region over the North Atlantic in fall 2017. The main source is via isentropic transport by the Asian monsoon and to a lesser extent transport across the extratropical tropopause as quantified by a Lagrange model. The transport of Brtot via Central American hurricanes is also observed. Lastly, the impact of Brtot on LS O3 is assessed.
Hao Guo, Clare M. Flynn, Michael J. Prather, Sarah A. Strode, Stephen D. Steenrod, Louisa Emmons, Forrest Lacey, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Arlene M. Fiore, Gus Correa, Lee T. Murray, Glenn M. Wolfe, Jason M. St. Clair, Michelle Kim, John Crounse, Glenn Diskin, Joshua DiGangi, Bruce C. Daube, Roisin Commane, Kathryn McKain, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Chelsea Thompson, Thomas F. Hanisco, Donald Blake, Nicola J. Blake, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, James W. Elkins, Eric J. Hintsa, Fred L. Moore, and Steven Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13729–13746, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13729-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13729-2021, 2021
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The NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission built a climatology of the chemical composition of tropospheric air parcels throughout the middle of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The level of detail allows us to reconstruct the photochemical budgets of O3 and CH4 over these vast, remote regions. We find that most of the chemical heterogeneity is captured at the resolution used in current global chemistry models and that the majority of reactivity occurs in the
hottest20 % of parcels.
Alistair J. Manning, Alison L. Redington, Daniel Say, Simon O'Doherty, Dickon Young, Peter G. Simmonds, Martin K. Vollmer, Jens Mühle, Jgor Arduini, Gerard Spain, Adam Wisher, Michela Maione, Tanja J. Schuck, Kieran Stanley, Stefan Reimann, Andreas Engel, Paul B. Krummel, Paul J. Fraser, Christina M. Harth, Peter K. Salameh, Ray F. Weiss, Ray Gluckman, Peter N. Brown, John D. Watterson, and Tim Arnold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12739–12755, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12739-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12739-2021, 2021
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This paper estimates UK emissions of important greenhouse gases (hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)) using high-quality atmospheric observations and atmospheric modelling. We compare these estimates with those submitted by the UK to the United Nations. We conclude that global concentrations of these gases are still increasing. Our estimates for the UK are 73 % of those reported and that the UK emissions are now falling, demonstrating an impact of UK government policy.
Thorsten Kaluza, Daniel Kunkel, and Peter Hoor
Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 631–651, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-631-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-631-2021, 2021
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We present a 10-year analysis on the occurrence of strong wind shear in the Northern Hemisphere, focusing on the region around the transport barrier that separates the first two layers of the atmosphere. The major result of our analysis is that strong wind shear above a certain threshold occurs frequently and nearly exclusively in this region, which, as an indicator for turbulent mixing, might have major implications concerning the separation efficiency of the transport barrier.
Yenny Gonzalez, Róisín Commane, Ethan Manninen, Bruce C. Daube, Luke D. Schiferl, J. Barry McManus, Kathryn McKain, Eric J. Hintsa, James W. Elkins, Stephen A. Montzka, Colm Sweeney, Fred Moore, Jose L. Jimenez, Pedro Campuzano Jost, Thomas B. Ryerson, Ilann Bourgeois, Jeff Peischl, Chelsea R. Thompson, Eric Ray, Paul O. Wennberg, John Crounse, Michelle Kim, Hannah M. Allen, Paul A. Newman, Britton B. Stephens, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Benjamin A. Nault, Eric Morgan, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11113–11132, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11113-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11113-2021, 2021
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Vertical profiles of N2O and a variety of chemical species and aerosols were collected nearly from pole to pole over the oceans during the NASA Atmospheric Tomography mission. We observed that tropospheric N2O variability is strongly driven by the influence of stratospheric air depleted in N2O, especially at middle and high latitudes. We also traced the origins of biomass burning and industrial emissions and investigated their impact on the variability of tropospheric N2O.
Lukas Krasauskas, Jörn Ungermann, Peter Preusse, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Andreas Zahn, Helmut Ziereis, Christian Rolf, Felix Plöger, Paul Konopka, Bärbel Vogel, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10249–10272, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10249-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10249-2021, 2021
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A Rossby wave (RW) breaking event was observed over the North Atlantic during the WISE measurement campaign in October 2017. Infrared limb sounding measurements of trace gases in the lower stratosphere, including high-resolution 3-D tomographic reconstruction, revealed complex spatial structures in stratospheric tracers near the polar jet related to previous RW breaking events. Backward-trajectory analysis and tracer correlations were used to study mixing and stratosphere–troposphere exchange.
Fides Lefrancois, Markus Jesswein, Markus Thoma, Andreas Engel, Kieran Stanley, and Tanja Schuck
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4669–4687, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4669-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4669-2021, 2021
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Synthetic halocarbons can contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion or to climate change. In many applications they have been replaced over the last years. The presented non-target analysis shows an application approach to quantify those replacements retrospectively, using recorded data of air measurements with gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. We focus on the retrospective analysis of the fourth-generation halocarbons, detected at Taunus Observatory in Germany.
Felix Ploeger, Mohamadou Diallo, Edward Charlesworth, Paul Konopka, Bernard Legras, Johannes C. Laube, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Gebhard Günther, Andreas Engel, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 8393–8412, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8393-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8393-2021, 2021
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We investigate the global stratospheric circulation (Brewer–Dobson circulation) in the new ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis based on age of air simulations, and we compare it to results from the preceding ERA-Interim reanalysis. Our results show a slower stratospheric circulation and higher age for ERA5. The age of air trend in ERA5 over the 1989–2018 period is negative throughout the stratosphere, related to multi-annual variability and a potential contribution from changes in the reanalysis system.
Thomas Wagenhäuser, Andreas Engel, and Robert Sitals
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3923–3934, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3923-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3923-2021, 2021
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AirCore samplers are increasingly deployed to weather balloons to collect continuous atmospheric samples. We introduce a technique that can be used in situ to evaluate different data processing methods that are required to derive vertical trace gas profiles from AirCore measurements after sample recovery. Results from two test flights with a specific AirCore configuration provide evidence for systematic deviations in altitude attribution for the upper levels, which can be empirically corrected.
Romain Blot, Philippe Nedelec, Damien Boulanger, Pawel Wolff, Bastien Sauvage, Jean-Marc Cousin, Gilles Athier, Andreas Zahn, Florian Obersteiner, Dieter Scharffe, Hervé Petetin, Yasmine Bennouna, Hannah Clark, and Valérie Thouret
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3935–3951, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3935-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3935-2021, 2021
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A lack of information about temporal changes in measurement uncertainties is an area of concern for long-term trend studies of the key compounds which have a direct or indirect impact on climate change. The IAGOS program has measured O3 and CO within the troposphere and lower stratosphere for more than 25 years. In this study, we demonstrated that the IAGOS database can be treated as one continuous program and is therefore appropriate for studies of long-term trends.
Ivan Tadic, Clara M. Nussbaumer, Birger Bohn, Hartwig Harder, Daniel Marno, Monica Martinez, Florian Obersteiner, Uwe Parchatka, Andrea Pozzer, Roland Rohloff, Martin Zöger, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 8195–8211, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8195-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8195-2021, 2021
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Although mechanisms of tropospheric ozone (O3) formation are well understood, studies reporting on ozone formation derived from field measurements are challenging and remain sparse in number. We use airborne measurements to quantify nitric oxide (NO) and O3 distributions in the upper troposphere over the Atlantic Ocean and western Africa and compare our measurements to model simulations. Our results show that NO and ozone formation are greatest over the tropical areas of western Africa.
Clara M. Nussbaumer, Ivan Tadic, Dirk Dienhart, Nijing Wang, Achim Edtbauer, Lisa Ernle, Jonathan Williams, Florian Obersteiner, Isidoro Gutiérrez-Álvarez, Hartwig Harder, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7933–7945, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7933-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7933-2021, 2021
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Lightning over continental and coastal areas is frequent and accompanied by deep convection, while lightning over marine areas and particularly in tropical cyclones is rare. This research presents in situ observations of the tropical storm Florence 2018 near Cabo Verde. We show the absence of lightning in the tropical storm despite the occurrence of deep convective processes by atmospheric trace gas measurements of O3, NO, CO, H2O2, DMS and CH2I.
Franziska Köllner, Johannes Schneider, Megan D. Willis, Hannes Schulz, Daniel Kunkel, Heiko Bozem, Peter Hoor, Thomas Klimach, Frank Helleis, Julia Burkart, W. Richard Leaitch, Amir A. Aliabadi, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Andreas B. Herber, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6509–6539, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6509-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6509-2021, 2021
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We present in situ observations of vertically resolved particle chemical composition in the summertime Arctic lower troposphere. Our analysis demonstrates the strong vertical contrast between particle properties within the boundary layer and aloft. Emissions from vegetation fires and anthropogenic sources in northern Canada, Europe, and East Asia influenced particle composition in the free troposphere. Organics detected in Arctic aerosol particles can partly be identified as dicarboxylic acids.
Daniel Say, Alistair J. Manning, Luke M. Western, Dickon Young, Adam Wisher, Matthew Rigby, Stefan Reimann, Martin K. Vollmer, Michela Maione, Jgor Arduini, Paul B. Krummel, Jens Mühle, Christina M. Harth, Brendan Evans, Ray F. Weiss, Ronald G. Prinn, and Simon O'Doherty
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2149–2164, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2149-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2149-2021, 2021
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Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are potent greenhouse gases with exceedingly long lifetimes. We used atmospheric measurements from a global monitoring network to track the accumulation of these gases in the atmosphere. In the case of the two most abundant PFCs, recent measurements indicate that global emissions are increasing. In Europe, we used a model to estimate regional PFC emissions. Our results show that there was no significant decline in northwest European PFC emissions between 2010 and 2019.
Angharad C. Stell, Luke M. Western, Tomás Sherwen, and Matthew Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1717–1736, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1717-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1717-2021, 2021
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Although it is the second-most important greenhouse gas, our understanding of the atmospheric-methane budget is limited. The uncertainty highlights the need for new tools to investigate sources and sinks. Here, we use a Gaussian process emulator to efficiently approximate the response of atmospheric-methane observations to changes in the most uncertain emission or loss processes. With this new method, we rigorously quantify the sensitivity of atmospheric observations to budget uncertainties.
Johannes Schneider, Ralf Weigel, Thomas Klimach, Antonis Dragoneas, Oliver Appel, Andreas Hünig, Sergej Molleker, Franziska Köllner, Hans-Christian Clemen, Oliver Eppers, Peter Hoppe, Peter Hoor, Christoph Mahnke, Martina Krämer, Christian Rolf, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Andreas Zahn, Florian Obersteiner, Fabrizio Ravegnani, Alexey Ulanovsky, Hans Schlager, Monika Scheibe, Glenn S. Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, John B. Nowak, Martin Zöger, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 989–1013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-989-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-989-2021, 2021
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During five aircraft missions, we detected aerosol particles containing meteoric material in the lower stratosphere. The stratospheric measurements span a latitude range from 15 to 68° N, and we find that at potential temperature levels of more than 40 K above the tropopause; particles containing meteoric material occur at similar abundance fractions across latitudes and seasons. We conclude that meteoric material is efficiently distributed between high and low latitudes by isentropic mixing.
Rachel L. Tunnicliffe, Anita L. Ganesan, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Nicola Gedney, Benjamin Poulter, Zhen Zhang, Jošt V. Lavrič, David Walter, Matthew Rigby, Stephan Henne, Dickon Young, and Simon O'Doherty
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13041–13067, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13041-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13041-2020, 2020
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This study quantifies Brazil’s emissions of a potent atmospheric greenhouse gas, methane. This is in the field of atmospheric modelling and uses remotely sensed data and surface measurements of methane concentrations as well as an atmospheric transport model to interpret the data. Because of Brazil’s large emissions from wetlands, agriculture and biomass burning, these emissions affect global methane concentrations and thus are of global significance.
Bettina Hottmann, Sascha Hafermann, Laura Tomsche, Daniel Marno, Monica Martinez, Hartwig Harder, Andrea Pozzer, Marco Neumaier, Andreas Zahn, Birger Bohn, Greta Stratmann, Helmut Ziereis, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12655–12673, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12655-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12655-2020, 2020
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During OMO we observed enhanced mixing ratios of hydroperoxides (ROOH) in the Asian monsoon anticyclone (AMA) relative to the background. The observed mixing ratios are higher than steady-state calculations and EMAC simulations, especially in the AMA, indicating atmospheric transport of ROOH. Uncertainties in the scavenging efficiencies likely cause deviations from EMAC. Longitudinal gradients indicate a pool of ROOH towards the center of the AMA associated with upwind convection over India.
Guillaume Monteil, Grégoire Broquet, Marko Scholze, Matthew Lang, Ute Karstens, Christoph Gerbig, Frank-Thomas Koch, Naomi E. Smith, Rona L. Thompson, Ingrid T. Luijkx, Emily White, Antoon Meesters, Philippe Ciais, Anita L. Ganesan, Alistair Manning, Michael Mischurow, Wouter Peters, Philippe Peylin, Jerôme Tarniewicz, Matt Rigby, Christian Rödenbeck, Alex Vermeulen, and Evie M. Walton
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12063–12091, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12063-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12063-2020, 2020
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The paper presents the first results from the EUROCOM project, a regional atmospheric inversion intercomparison exercise involving six European research groups. It aims to produce an estimate of the net carbon flux between the European terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere for the period 2006–2015, based on constraints provided by observed CO2 concentrations and using inverse modelling techniques. The use of six different models enables us to investigate the robustness of the results.
Martin Heinritzi, Lubna Dada, Mario Simon, Dominik Stolzenburg, Andrea C. Wagner, Lukas Fischer, Lauri R. Ahonen, Stavros Amanatidis, Rima Baalbaki, Andrea Baccarini, Paulus S. Bauer, Bernhard Baumgartner, Federico Bianchi, Sophia Brilke, Dexian Chen, Randall Chiu, Antonio Dias, Josef Dommen, Jonathan Duplissy, Henning Finkenzeller, Carla Frege, Claudia Fuchs, Olga Garmash, Hamish Gordon, Manuel Granzin, Imad El Haddad, Xucheng He, Johanna Helm, Victoria Hofbauer, Christopher R. Hoyle, Juha Kangasluoma, Timo Keber, Changhyuk Kim, Andreas Kürten, Houssni Lamkaddam, Tiia M. Laurila, Janne Lampilahti, Chuan Ping Lee, Katrianne Lehtipalo, Markus Leiminger, Huajun Mai, Vladimir Makhmutov, Hanna Elina Manninen, Ruby Marten, Serge Mathot, Roy Lee Mauldin, Bernhard Mentler, Ugo Molteni, Tatjana Müller, Wei Nie, Tuomo Nieminen, Antti Onnela, Eva Partoll, Monica Passananti, Tuukka Petäjä, Joschka Pfeifer, Veronika Pospisilova, Lauriane L. J. Quéléver, Matti P. Rissanen, Clémence Rose, Siegfried Schobesberger, Wiebke Scholz, Kay Scholze, Mikko Sipilä, Gerhard Steiner, Yuri Stozhkov, Christian Tauber, Yee Jun Tham, Miguel Vazquez-Pufleau, Annele Virtanen, Alexander L. Vogel, Rainer Volkamer, Robert Wagner, Mingyi Wang, Lena Weitz, Daniela Wimmer, Mao Xiao, Chao Yan, Penglin Ye, Qiaozhi Zha, Xueqin Zhou, Antonio Amorim, Urs Baltensperger, Armin Hansel, Markku Kulmala, António Tomé, Paul M. Winkler, Douglas R. Worsnop, Neil M. Donahue, Jasper Kirkby, and Joachim Curtius
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11809–11821, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11809-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11809-2020, 2020
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With experiments performed at CLOUD, we show how isoprene interferes in monoterpene oxidation via RO2 termination at atmospherically relevant concentrations. This interference shifts the distribution of highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs) away from C20 class dimers towards C15 class dimers, which subsequently reduces both biogenic nucleation and early growth rates. Our results may help to understand the absence of new-particle formation in isoprene-rich environments.
Ilann Bourgeois, Jeff Peischl, Chelsea R. Thompson, Kenneth C. Aikin, Teresa Campos, Hannah Clark, Róisín Commane, Bruce Daube, Glenn W. Diskin, James W. Elkins, Ru-Shan Gao, Audrey Gaudel, Eric J. Hintsa, Bryan J. Johnson, Rigel Kivi, Kathryn McKain, Fred L. Moore, David D. Parrish, Richard Querel, Eric Ray, Ricardo Sánchez, Colm Sweeney, David W. Tarasick, Anne M. Thompson, Valérie Thouret, Jacquelyn C. Witte, Steve C. Wofsy, and Thomas B. Ryerson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 10611–10635, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10611-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10611-2020, 2020
W. Richard Leaitch, John K. Kodros, Megan D. Willis, Sarah Hanna, Hannes Schulz, Elisabeth Andrews, Heiko Bozem, Julia Burkart, Peter Hoor, Felicia Kolonjari, John A. Ogren, Sangeeta Sharma, Meng Si, Knut von Salzen, Allan K. Bertram, Andreas Herber, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, and Jeffrey R. Pierce
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 10545–10563, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10545-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10545-2020, 2020
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Black carbon is a factor in the warming of the Arctic atmosphere due to its ability to absorb light, but the uncertainty is high and few observations have been made in the high Arctic above 80° N. We combine airborne and ground-based observations in the springtime Arctic, at and above 80° N, with simulations from a global model to show that light absorption by black carbon may be much larger than modelled. However, the uncertainty remains high.
Marius Hauck, Harald Bönisch, Peter Hoor, Timo Keber, Felix Ploeger, Tanja J. Schuck, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8763–8785, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8763-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8763-2020, 2020
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This study features an extended inversion method that includes transport across the extratropical tropopause to derive age spectra in the lowermost stratosphere from in situ trace gas measurements. The refined method is validated in a model setup and applied to data gained with the HALO research aircraft. Results are congruent with the findings of previous studies so that the method provides a promising toolset for the analysis of stratospheric dynamics based on observations in the future.
Frauke Fritsch, Hella Garny, Andreas Engel, Harald Bönisch, and Roland Eichinger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8709–8725, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8709-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8709-2020, 2020
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We test two methods to derive age of air as a diagnostic of the Brewer–Dobson circulation from non-linear increasing trace gases such as SF6 using a chemistry-climate model and observations. Both the model and the observations show systematic variation of the age of air trend dependent on the chosen assumptions that are required when deriving age of air from measurements. This provides insight into the differences in age of air trends of observations and models.
Katherine R. Travis, Colette L. Heald, Hannah M. Allen, Eric C. Apel, Stephen R. Arnold, Donald R. Blake, William H. Brune, Xin Chen, Róisín Commane, John D. Crounse, Bruce C. Daube, Glenn S. Diskin, James W. Elkins, Mathew J. Evans, Samuel R. Hall, Eric J. Hintsa, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Prasad S. Kasibhatla, Michelle J. Kim, Gan Luo, Kathryn McKain, Dylan B. Millet, Fred L. Moore, Jeffrey Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Tomás Sherwen, Alexander B. Thames, Kirk Ullmann, Xuan Wang, Paul O. Wennberg, Glenn M. Wolfe, and Fangqun Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 7753–7781, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7753-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7753-2020, 2020
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Atmospheric models overestimate the rate of removal of trace gases by the hydroxyl radical (OH). This is a concern for studies of the climate and air quality impacts of human activities. Here, we evaluate the performance of a commonly used model of atmospheric chemistry against data from the NASA Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) over the remote oceans where models have received little validation. The model is generally successful, suggesting that biases in OH may be a concern over land.
Peter G. Simmonds, Matthew Rigby, Alistair J. Manning, Sunyoung Park, Kieran M. Stanley, Archie McCulloch, Stephan Henne, Francesco Graziosi, Michela Maione, Jgor Arduini, Stefan Reimann, Martin K. Vollmer, Jens Mühle, Simon O'Doherty, Dickon Young, Paul B. Krummel, Paul J. Fraser, Ray F. Weiss, Peter K. Salameh, Christina M. Harth, Mi-Kyung Park, Hyeri Park, Tim Arnold, Chris Rennick, L. Paul Steele, Blagoj Mitrevski, Ray H. J. Wang, and Ronald G. Prinn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 7271–7290, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7271-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7271-2020, 2020
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Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a potent greenhouse gas which is regulated under the Kyoto Protocol. From a 40-year record of measurements, collected at five global monitoring sites and archived air samples, we show that its concentration in the atmosphere has steadily increased. Using modelling techniques, we estimate that global emissions have increased by about 24 % over the past decade. We find that this increase is driven by the demand for SF6-insulated switchgear in developing countries.
Peter H. Zimmermann, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, Andrea Pozzer, Patrick Jöckel, Franziska Winterstein, Andreas Zahn, Sander Houweling, and Jos Lelieveld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 5787–5809, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5787-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5787-2020, 2020
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The atmospheric abundance of the greenhouse gas methane is determined by interacting emission sources and sinks in a dynamic global environment. In this study, its global budget from 1997 to 2016 is simulated with a general circulation model using emission estimates of 11 source categories. The model results are evaluated against 17 ground station and 320 intercontinental flight observation series. Deviations are used to re-scale the emission quantities with the aim of matching observations.
Luke M. Western, Zhe Sha, Matthew Rigby, Anita L. Ganesan, Alistair J. Manning, Kieran M. Stanley, Simon J. O'Doherty, Dickon Young, and Jonathan Rougier
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 2095–2107, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2095-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2095-2020, 2020
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Assessments of greenhouse gas emissions using atmospheric measurements and meteorological models, or
top-downmethods, are important to verify national inventories or produce a stand-alone estimate where no inventory exists. We present a novel top-down method to estimate emissions. This approach uses a fast method called an integrated nested Laplacian approximation to estimate how these emissions are correlated with other emissions in different locations and at different times.
Timo Keber, Harald Bönisch, Carl Hartick, Marius Hauck, Fides Lefrancois, Florian Obersteiner, Akima Ringsdorf, Nils Schohl, Tanja Schuck, Ryan Hossaini, Phoebe Graf, Patrick Jöckel, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 4105–4132, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4105-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4105-2020, 2020
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In this paper we summarize observations of short-lived halocarbons in the tropopause region. We show that, especially during winter, the levels of short-lived bromine gases at the extratropical tropopause are higher than at the tropical tropopause. We discuss the impact of the distributions on stratospheric bromine levels and compare our observations to two models with four different emission scenarios.
Alexander B. Thames, William H. Brune, David O. Miller, Hannah M. Allen, Eric C. Apel, Donald R. Blake, T. Paul Bui, Roisin Commane, John D. Crounse, Bruce C. Daube, Glenn S. Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, James W. Elkins, Samuel R. Hall, Thomas F. Hanisco, Reem A. Hannun, Eric Hintsa, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Michelle J. Kim, Kathryn McKain, Fred L. Moore, Julie M. Nicely, Jeffrey Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Jason M. St. Clair, Colm Sweeney, Alex Teng, Chelsea R. Thompson, Kirk Ullmann, Paul O. Wennberg, and Glenn M. Wolfe
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 4013–4029, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4013-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4013-2020, 2020
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Oceans and the atmosphere exchange volatile gases that react with the hydroxyl radical (OH). During a NASA airborne study, measurements of the total frequency of OH reactions, called the OH reactivity, were made in the marine boundary layer of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The measured OH reactivity often exceeded the OH reactivity calculated from measured chemical species. This missing OH reactivity appears to be from unmeasured volatile organic compounds coming out of the ocean.
Tanja J. Schuck, Ann-Katrin Blank, Elisa Rittmeier, Jonathan Williams, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, Andreas Engel, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 73–84, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-73-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-73-2020, 2020
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Air sample collection aboard aircraft is a tool to measure atmospheric trace gas mixing ratios at altitude. We present results on the stability of 28 halocarbons during storage of air samples collected in stainless-steel flasks inside an automated air sampling unit which is part of the CARIBIC instrument package. Selected fluorinated compounds grew during the experiments while short-lived compounds were depleted. Individual substances were additionally influenced by high mixing ratios of ozone.
Heiko Bozem, Peter Hoor, Daniel Kunkel, Franziska Köllner, Johannes Schneider, Andreas Herber, Hannes Schulz, W. Richard Leaitch, Amir A. Aliabadi, Megan D. Willis, Julia Burkart, and Jonathan P. D. Abbatt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 15049–15071, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-15049-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-15049-2019, 2019
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We present airborne trace gas measurements in the European and Canadian Arctic for July 2014 and April 2015. Based on CO and CO2 in situ data as well as 10 d kinematic back trajectories, we characterize the prevailing transport regimes and derive a tracer-based diagnostic for the determination of the polar dome boundary. Using the tracer-derived boundary, an analysis of the recent transport history of air masses within the polar dome reveals significant differences between spring and summer.
Angelina Wenger, Katherine Pugsley, Simon O'Doherty, Matt Rigby, Alistair J. Manning, Mark F. Lunt, and Emily D. White
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 14057–14070, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14057-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14057-2019, 2019
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We present 14CO2 observations at a background site in Ireland and a tall tower site in the UK. These data have been used to calculate the contribution of fossil fuel sources to atmospheric CO2 mole fractions from the UK and Ireland. 14CO2 emissions from nuclear industry sites in the UK cause a higher uncertainty in the results compared to observations in other locations. The observed ffCO2 at the site was not significantly different from simulated values based on the bottom-up inventory.
Daniel Kunkel, Peter Hoor, Thorsten Kaluza, Jörn Ungermann, Björn Kluschat, Andreas Giez, Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Martin Kaufmann, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 12607–12630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12607-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12607-2019, 2019
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In this study we present a mixing process around the tropopause in extratropical baroclinic waves. We analyze airborne data from a flight during the WISE campaign in autumn 2017 over the North Atlantic. We use idealized experiments to study the mixing process. Although the process occurs on a small geographical scale, it might be of importance due to its relation to a frequent feature of the extratropical UTLS. The process is relevant for STE but is not fully included in climatologies.
Andreas Marsing, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Stefan Kaufmann, Romy Heller, Andreas Engel, Peter Hoor, Jens Krause, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10757–10772, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10757-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10757-2019, 2019
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We study the partitioning of inorganic chlorine into active (ozone-depleting) and reservoir species in the lowermost stratosphere of the Arctic polar vortex, using novel in situ aircraft measurements in winter 2015/2016. We observe a change in recovery pathways of the reservoirs HCl and ClONO2 with increasing potential temperature. A comparison with the CLaMS model relates the observations to the vortex-wide evolution and confirms unresolved discrepancies in the mid-winter HCl distribution.
Jens Mühle, Cathy M. Trudinger, Luke M. Western, Matthew Rigby, Martin K. Vollmer, Sunyoung Park, Alistair J. Manning, Daniel Say, Anita Ganesan, L. Paul Steele, Diane J. Ivy, Tim Arnold, Shanlan Li, Andreas Stohl, Christina M. Harth, Peter K. Salameh, Archie McCulloch, Simon O'Doherty, Mi-Kyung Park, Chun Ok Jo, Dickon Young, Kieran M. Stanley, Paul B. Krummel, Blagoj Mitrevski, Ove Hermansen, Chris Lunder, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Bo Yao, Jooil Kim, Benjamin Hmiel, Christo Buizert, Vasilii V. Petrenko, Jgor Arduini, Michela Maione, David M. Etheridge, Eleni Michalopoulou, Mike Czerniak, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Stefan Reimann, Peter G. Simmonds, Paul J. Fraser, Ronald G. Prinn, and Ray F. Weiss
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10335–10359, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10335-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10335-2019, 2019
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We discuss atmospheric concentrations and emissions of the strong greenhouse gas perfluorocyclobutane. A large fraction of recent emissions stem from China, India, and Russia, probably as a by-product from the production of fluoropolymers and fluorochemicals. Most historic emissions likely stem from developed countries. Total emissions are higher than what is being reported. Clearly, more measurements and better reporting are needed to understand emissions of this and other greenhouse gases.
Daniel Say, Anita L. Ganesan, Mark F. Lunt, Matthew Rigby, Simon O'Doherty, Christina Harth, Alistair J. Manning, Paul B. Krummel, and Stephane Bauguitte
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 9865–9885, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9865-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9865-2019, 2019
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Despite its emergence as a global economic power, very little information exists regarding India's halocarbon (CFC, HCFC, HFC and chlorocarbon) emissions. We report atmospheric measurements of these gases from above India, and use them to estimate India's emissions. Our results are consistent with the emissions profile of a developing country, with large emissions of HCFCs, HFCs and chlorocarbons not regulated under the Montreal Protocol, but little evidence for ongoing CFC consumption.
Thorsten Kaluza, Daniel Kunkel, and Peter Hoor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 6621–6636, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6621-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6621-2019, 2019
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We present a comprehensive mean evolution of the tropopause inversion layer in mid-latitudes, an atmospheric feature that is located in the region that separates the well-mixed troposphere and the stably stratified stratosphere. We counter-intuitively find this region, which is expected to stabilise atmospheric flow, to exhibit favourable conditions for turbulent exchange between troposphere and stratosphere. This is an important result concerning the overall assessment of exchange processes.
Felix Ploeger, Bernard Legras, Edward Charlesworth, Xiaolu Yan, Mohamadou Diallo, Paul Konopka, Thomas Birner, Mengchu Tao, Andreas Engel, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 6085–6105, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6085-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6085-2019, 2019
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We analyse the change in the circulation of the middle atmosphere based on current generation meteorological reanalysis data sets. We find that long-term changes from 1989 to 2015 are similar for the chosen reanalyses, mainly resembling the forced response in climate model simulations to climate change. For shorter periods circulation changes are less robust, and the representation of decadal variability appears to be a major uncertainty for modelling the circulation of the middle atmosphere.
Marius Hauck, Frauke Fritsch, Hella Garny, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 5269–5291, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5269-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5269-2019, 2019
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The paper presents a modified method to invert mixing ratios of chemically active tracers into stratospheric age spectra. It features an imposed seasonal cycle to include transport seasonality into the spectra. An idealized set of tracers from a model is used as proof of concept and results are in good agreement with the model reference, except for the lowermost stratosphere. Applicability is studied with focus on number of tracers and error tolerance, providing a starting point for future work.
Emily D. White, Matthew Rigby, Mark F. Lunt, T. Luke Smallman, Edward Comyn-Platt, Alistair J. Manning, Anita L. Ganesan, Simon O'Doherty, Ann R. Stavert, Kieran Stanley, Mathew Williams, Peter Levy, Michel Ramonet, Grant L. Forster, Andrew C. Manning, and Paul I. Palmer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4345–4365, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4345-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4345-2019, 2019
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Understanding carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes from the terrestrial biosphere on a national scale is important for evaluating land use strategies to mitigate climate change. We estimate emissions of CO2 from the UK biosphere using atmospheric data in a top-down approach. Our findings show that bottom-up estimates from models of biospheric fluxes overestimate the amount of CO2 uptake in summer. This suggests these models wrongly estimate or omit key processes, e.g. land disturbance due to harvest.
Meng Si, Erin Evoy, Jingwei Yun, Yu Xi, Sarah J. Hanna, Alina Chivulescu, Kevin Rawlings, Daniel Veber, Andrew Platt, Daniel Kunkel, Peter Hoor, Sangeeta Sharma, W. Richard Leaitch, and Allan K. Bertram
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 3007–3024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3007-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3007-2019, 2019
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We investigated the importance of mineral dust, sea spray aerosol, and anthropogenic aerosol to the ice-nucleating particle (INP) population in the Canadian Arctic during spring 2016. The results suggest that mineral dust transported from the Gobi Desert was a major source of the INP population studied, and that sea spray aerosol decreased the ice-nucleating ability of mineral dust. The results should be useful for testing and improving models used to predict INPs and climate in the Arctic.
Kieran Brophy, Heather Graven, Alistair J. Manning, Emily White, Tim Arnold, Marc L. Fischer, Seongeun Jeong, Xinguang Cui, and Matthew Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2991–3006, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2991-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2991-2019, 2019
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We investigate potential errors and uncertainties related to the spatial and temporal prior representation of emissions and modelled atmospheric transport for the inversion of California's fossil fuel CO2 emissions. Our results indicate that uncertainties in posterior total state fossil fuel CO2 estimates arising from the choice of prior emissions or atmospheric transport model are on the order of 15 % or less for the ground-based network in California we consider.
Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, W. Richard Leaitch, Amir A. Aliabadi, Allan K. Bertram, Jean-Pierre Blanchet, Aude Boivin-Rioux, Heiko Bozem, Julia Burkart, Rachel Y. W. Chang, Joannie Charette, Jai P. Chaubey, Robert J. Christensen, Ana Cirisan, Douglas B. Collins, Betty Croft, Joelle Dionne, Greg J. Evans, Christopher G. Fletcher, Martí Galí, Roya Ghahreman, Eric Girard, Wanmin Gong, Michel Gosselin, Margaux Gourdal, Sarah J. Hanna, Hakase Hayashida, Andreas B. Herber, Sareh Hesaraki, Peter Hoor, Lin Huang, Rachel Hussherr, Victoria E. Irish, Setigui A. Keita, John K. Kodros, Franziska Köllner, Felicia Kolonjari, Daniel Kunkel, Luis A. Ladino, Kathy Law, Maurice Levasseur, Quentin Libois, John Liggio, Martine Lizotte, Katrina M. Macdonald, Rashed Mahmood, Randall V. Martin, Ryan H. Mason, Lisa A. Miller, Alexander Moravek, Eric Mortenson, Emma L. Mungall, Jennifer G. Murphy, Maryam Namazi, Ann-Lise Norman, Norman T. O'Neill, Jeffrey R. Pierce, Lynn M. Russell, Johannes Schneider, Hannes Schulz, Sangeeta Sharma, Meng Si, Ralf M. Staebler, Nadja S. Steiner, Jennie L. Thomas, Knut von Salzen, Jeremy J. B. Wentzell, Megan D. Willis, Gregory R. Wentworth, Jun-Wei Xu, and Jacqueline D. Yakobi-Hancock
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2527–2560, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2527-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2527-2019, 2019
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The Arctic is experiencing considerable environmental change with climate warming, illustrated by the dramatic decrease in sea-ice extent. It is important to understand both the natural and perturbed Arctic systems to gain a better understanding of how they will change in the future. This paper summarizes new insights into the relationships between Arctic aerosol particles and climate, as learned over the past five or so years by a large Canadian research consortium, NETCARE.
Hannes Schulz, Marco Zanatta, Heiko Bozem, W. Richard Leaitch, Andreas B. Herber, Julia Burkart, Megan D. Willis, Daniel Kunkel, Peter M. Hoor, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, and Rüdiger Gerdes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2361–2384, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2361-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2361-2019, 2019
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Aircraft vertical profiles of black carbon (BC) aerosol from the High Canadian Arctic have shown systematic variability in different levels of the cold, stably stratified polar dome. During spring and summer, efficiencies of BC supply by transport (often from gas flaring and wildfire-affected regions) were different in the lower dome than at higher levels, as apparent from changes in mean particle size and mixing ratios with CO. Summer BC concentrations were a factor of 10 lower than in spring.
Daniel Say, Anita L. Ganesan, Mark F. Lunt, Matthew Rigby, Simon O'Doherty, Chris Harth, Alistair J. Manning, Paul B. Krummel, and Stephane Bauguitte
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1287, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1287, 2019
Publication in ACP not foreseen
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India is a potentially significant source of chlorocarbons, gases typically used as solvents and feedstocks. Given the potential for these species to deplete stratospheric ozone, understanding their sources is important. We use flask measurements collected from an aircraft to infer India's chlorocarbon emissions. We link emissions of carbon tetrachloride to the industrial production of other chloromethanes, and provide evidence for rapid growth in India's emissions of dichloromethane.
Megan D. Willis, Heiko Bozem, Daniel Kunkel, Alex K. Y. Lee, Hannes Schulz, Julia Burkart, Amir A. Aliabadi, Andreas B. Herber, W. Richard Leaitch, and Jonathan P. D. Abbatt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 57–76, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-57-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-57-2019, 2019
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The vertical distribution of Arctic aerosol is an important driver of its climate impacts. We present vertically resolved measurements of aerosol composition and properties made in the High Arctic during spring on an aircraft platform. We explore how aerosol properties are related to transport history and show evidence of vertical trends in aerosol sources, transport mechanisms and composition. These results will help us to better understand aerosol–climate interactions in the Arctic.
Erlend M. Knudsen, Bernd Heinold, Sandro Dahlke, Heiko Bozem, Susanne Crewell, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Georg Heygster, Daniel Kunkel, Marion Maturilli, Mario Mech, Carolina Viceto, Annette Rinke, Holger Schmithüsen, André Ehrlich, Andreas Macke, Christof Lüpkes, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17995–18022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17995-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17995-2018, 2018
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The paper describes the synoptic development during the ACLOUD/PASCAL airborne and ship-based field campaign near Svalbard in spring 2017. This development is presented using near-surface and upperair meteorological observations, satellite, and model data. We first present time series of these data, from which we identify and characterize three key periods. Finally, we put our observations in historical and regional contexts and compare our findings to other Arctic field campaigns.
Johannes Eckstein, Roland Ruhnke, Stephan Pfahl, Emanuel Christner, Christopher Diekmann, Christoph Dyroff, Daniel Reinert, Daniel Rieger, Matthias Schneider, Jennifer Schröter, Andreas Zahn, and Peter Braesicke
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 5113–5133, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-5113-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-5113-2018, 2018
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We present ICON-ART-Iso, an extension to the global circulation model ICON, which allows for the simulation of the stable isotopologues of water. The main advantage over other isotope-enabled models is its flexible design with respect to the number of tracers simulated. We compare the results of several simulations to measurements of different scale. ICON-ART-Iso is able to reasonably reproduce the measurements. It is a promising tool to aid in the investigation of the atmospheric water cycle.
Tanja J. Schuck, Fides Lefrancois, Franziska Gallmann, Danrong Wang, Markus Jesswein, Jesica Hoker, Harald Bönisch, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 16553–16569, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16553-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16553-2018, 2018
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We present the first results of regular halocarbon measurements at Taunus Observatory, Germany. Halogenated gases contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion and to radiative forcing. Time-of-flight mass spectrometry allows one to assess a large number of compounds; the measurements are expected to provide better constraints for European emission estimates. CFC-11 and CFC-12 show small unexpected differences regarding outlier occurrence and seasonality, indicating ongoing emissions of CFC-11.
Simon Chabrillat, Corinne Vigouroux, Yves Christophe, Andreas Engel, Quentin Errera, Daniele Minganti, Beatriz M. Monge-Sanz, Arjo Segers, and Emmanuel Mahieu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14715–14735, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14715-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14715-2018, 2018
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Mean age of stratospheric air is computed for the period 1989–2015 with a kinematic transport model which uses surface pressure and wind fields from five reanalyses: ERA-I, MERRA-2, MERRA, CFSR, JRA-55. The spread between the resulting datasets is as large as in climate model intercomparisons; the age trends have large disagreement and depend strongly on the considered period. We highlight the need for similar studies using diabatic transport models which also use temperature and heating rates.
Franz Slemr, Andreas Weigelt, Ralf Ebinghaus, Johannes Bieser, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, Armin Rauthe-Schöch, Markus Hermann, Bengt G. Martinsson, Peter van Velthoven, Harald Bönisch, Marco Neumaier, Andreas Zahn, and Helmut Ziereis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 12329–12343, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12329-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12329-2018, 2018
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Total and elemental mercury were measured in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere onboard a passenger aircraft. Their concentrations in the upper troposphere were comparable implying low concentrations of oxidized mercury in this region. Large scale seasonally dependent influence of emissions from biomass burning was also observed. Their distributions in the lower stratosphere implies a long stratospheric lifetime, which precludes significant mercury oxidation by ozone.
Paul I. Palmer, Simon O'Doherty, Grant Allen, Keith Bower, Hartmut Bösch, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Sarah Connors, Sandip Dhomse, Liang Feng, Douglas P. Finch, Martin W. Gallagher, Emanuel Gloor, Siegfried Gonzi, Neil R. P. Harris, Carole Helfter, Neil Humpage, Brian Kerridge, Diane Knappett, Roderic L. Jones, Michael Le Breton, Mark F. Lunt, Alistair J. Manning, Stephan Matthiesen, Jennifer B. A. Muller, Neil Mullinger, Eiko Nemitz, Sebastian O'Shea, Robert J. Parker, Carl J. Percival, Joseph Pitt, Stuart N. Riddick, Matthew Rigby, Harjinder Sembhi, Richard Siddans, Robert L. Skelton, Paul Smith, Hannah Sonderfeld, Kieran Stanley, Ann R. Stavert, Angelina Wenger, Emily White, Christopher Wilson, and Dickon Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11753–11777, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11753-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11753-2018, 2018
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This paper provides an overview of the Greenhouse gAs Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) experiment. GAUGE was designed to quantify nationwide GHG emissions of the UK, bringing together measurements and atmospheric transport models. This novel experiment is the first of its kind. We anticipate it will inform the blueprint for countries that are building a measurement infrastructure in preparation for global stocktakes, which are a key part of the Paris Agreement.
Sören Johansson, Wolfgang Woiwode, Michael Höpfner, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Anne Kleinert, Erik Kretschmer, Thomas Latzko, Johannes Orphal, Peter Preusse, Jörn Ungermann, Michelle L. Santee, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Andreas Marsing, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Giez, Martina Krämer, Christian Rolf, Andreas Zahn, Andreas Engel, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and Hermann Oelhaf
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 4737–4756, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4737-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4737-2018, 2018
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We present two-dimensional cross sections of temperature, HNO3, O3, ClONO2, H2O and CFC-12 from measurements of the GLORIA infrared limb imager during the POLSTRACC/GW-LCYCLE/SALSA aircraft campaigns in the Arctic winter 2015/2016. GLORIA sounded the atmosphere between 5 and 14 km with vertical resolutions of 0.4–1 km. Estimated errors are in the range of 1–2 K (temperature) and 10 %–20 % (trace gases). Comparisons to in situ instruments onboard the aircraft and to Aura/MLS are shown.
Emma L. Mungall, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Jeremy J. B. Wentzell, Gregory R. Wentworth, Jennifer G. Murphy, Daniel Kunkel, Ellen Gute, David W. Tarasick, Sangeeta Sharma, Christopher J. Cox, Taneil Uttal, and John Liggio
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10237–10254, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10237-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10237-2018, 2018
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We measured gas-phase formic and acetic acid at Alert, Nunavut. These acids play an important role in cloud water acidity in remote environments, yet they are not well represented in chemical transport models, particularly in the Arctic. We observed high levels of formic and acetic acid under both cold, wet, and cloudy and warm, sunny, and dry conditions, suggesting that multiple sources significantly contribute to gas-phase concentrations of these species in the summer Arctic.
Ronald G. Prinn, Ray F. Weiss, Jgor Arduini, Tim Arnold, H. Langley DeWitt, Paul J. Fraser, Anita L. Ganesan, Jimmy Gasore, Christina M. Harth, Ove Hermansen, Jooil Kim, Paul B. Krummel, Shanlan Li, Zoë M. Loh, Chris R. Lunder, Michela Maione, Alistair J. Manning, Ben R. Miller, Blagoj Mitrevski, Jens Mühle, Simon O'Doherty, Sunyoung Park, Stefan Reimann, Matt Rigby, Takuya Saito, Peter K. Salameh, Roland Schmidt, Peter G. Simmonds, L. Paul Steele, Martin K. Vollmer, Ray H. Wang, Bo Yao, Yoko Yokouchi, Dickon Young, and Lingxi Zhou
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 985–1018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-985-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-985-2018, 2018
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We present the data and accomplishments of the multinational global atmospheric measurement program AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment). At high frequency and at multiple sites, AGAGE measures all the important chemicals in the Montreal Protocol for the protection of the ozone layer and the non-carbon-dioxide gases assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. AGAGE uses these data to estimate sources and sinks of all these gases and has operated since 1978.
Felicia Kolonjari, David A. Plummer, Kaley A. Walker, Chris D. Boone, James W. Elkins, Michaela I. Hegglin, Gloria L. Manney, Fred L. Moore, Diane Pendlebury, Eric A. Ray, Karen H. Rosenlof, and Gabriele P. Stiller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6801–6828, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6801-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6801-2018, 2018
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We used satellite observations and model simulations of CFC-11, CFC-12, and N2O to investigate stratospheric transport, which is important for predicting the recovery of the ozone layer and future climate. We found that sampling can impact results and that the model consistently overestimates concentrations of these gases in the lower stratosphere, consistent with a too rapid Brewer–Dobson circulation. An issue with mixing in the tropical lower stratosphere in June–July–August was also found.
Jens Krause, Peter Hoor, Andreas Engel, Felix Plöger, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Harald Bönisch, Timo Keber, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Wolfgang Woiwode, and Hermann Oelhaf
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6057–6073, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6057-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6057-2018, 2018
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We present tracer measurements of CO and N2O measured during the POLSTRACC aircraft campaign in winter 2015–2016. We found enhanced CO values relative to N2O in the polar lower stratosphere in addition to the ageing of this region during winter. By using model simulations it was possible to link this enhancement to an increased mixing of the tropical tropopause. We thus conclude that the polar lower stratosphere in late winter is strongly influenced by quasi-isentropic mixing from the tropics.
Klaus-Dirk Gottschaldt, Hans Schlager, Robert Baumann, Duy Sinh Cai, Veronika Eyring, Phoebe Graf, Volker Grewe, Patrick Jöckel, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Zahn, and Helmut Ziereis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5655–5675, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5655-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5655-2018, 2018
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This study places aircraft trace gas measurements from within the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone into the context of regional, intra- and interannual variability. We find that the processes reflected in the measurements are present throughout multiple simulated monsoon seasons. Dynamical instabilities, photochemical ozone production, lightning and entrainments from the lower troposphere and from the tropopause region determine the distinct composition of the anticyclone and its outflow.
Richard Newton, Geraint Vaughan, Eric Hintsa, Michal T. Filus, Laura L. Pan, Shawn Honomichl, Elliot Atlas, Stephen J. Andrews, and Lucy J. Carpenter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5157–5171, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5157-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5157-2018, 2018
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We consider the ozone measurements from aircraft during the CAST/CONTRAST/ATTREX campaigns of 2014. Low concentrations of ozone were found in the layer of 10–15 km altitude, which is indicative of uplift of ozone-poor air from near the sea surface to 10–15 km altitude. Chemicals that have origins in the sea were found in greater abundance when ozone concentrations were low compared to when ozone concentrations were high. The lowest ozone concentrations were found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Peter G. Simmonds, Matthew Rigby, Archie McCulloch, Martin K. Vollmer, Stephan Henne, Jens Mühle, Simon O'Doherty, Alistair J. Manning, Paul B. Krummel, Paul J. Fraser, Dickon Young, Ray F. Weiss, Peter K. Salameh, Christina M. Harth, Stefan Reimann, Cathy M. Trudinger, L. Paul Steele, Ray H. J. Wang, Diane J. Ivy, Ronald G. Prinn, Blagoj Mitrevski, and David M. Etheridge
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 4153–4169, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4153-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4153-2018, 2018
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Recent measurements of the potent greenhouse gas HFC-23, a by-product of HCFC-22 production, show a 28 % increase in the atmospheric mole fraction from 2009 to 2016. A minimum in the atmospheric abundance of HFC-23 in 2009 was attributed to abatement of HFC-23 emissions by incineration under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Our results indicate that the recent increase in HFC-23 emissions is driven by failure of mitigation under the CDM to keep pace with increased HCFC-22 production.
Katrina M. Macdonald, Sangeeta Sharma, Desiree Toom, Alina Chivulescu, Andrew Platt, Mike Elsasser, Lin Huang, Richard Leaitch, Nathan Chellman, Joseph R. McConnell, Heiko Bozem, Daniel Kunkel, Ying Duan Lei, Cheol-Heon Jeong, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, and Greg J. Evans
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 3485–3503, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3485-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3485-2018, 2018
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The sources of key contaminants in Arctic snow may be an important factor in understanding the rapid climate changes observed in the Arctic. Fresh snow samples collected frequently through the winter season were analyzed for major constituents. Temporally refined source apportionment via positive matrix factorization in conjunction with FLEXPART suggested potential source characteristics and locations. The identity of these sources and their relative contribution to key analytes is discussed.
Emma C. Leedham Elvidge, Harald Bönisch, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, Andreas Engel, Paul J. Fraser, Eileen Gallacher, Ray Langenfelds, Jens Mühle, David E. Oram, Eric A. Ray, Anna R. Ridley, Thomas Röckmann, William T. Sturges, Ray F. Weiss, and Johannes C. Laube
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 3369–3385, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3369-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3369-2018, 2018
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Chemical species measured in stratospheric air can be used as proxies for stratospheric circulation changes which cannot be measured directly. A range of tracers is important to understand changing stratospheric dynamics. We demonstrate the suitability of PFCs and HFCs as tracers and support recent work that reduces the current stratospheric lifetime of SF6. Updates to policy-relevant parameters (e.g. stratospheric lifetime) linked to this change are provided for O3-depleting substances.
Christian Rolf, Bärbel Vogel, Peter Hoor, Armin Afchine, Gebhard Günther, Martina Krämer, Rolf Müller, Stefan Müller, Nicole Spelten, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 2973–2983, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2973-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2973-2018, 2018
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The Asian monsoon is a pronounced circulation system linked to rapid vertical transport of surface air from India and east Asia in the summer months. We found, based on aircraft measurements, higher concentration of water vapor in the lowermost stratosphere caused by the Asian monsoon. Enrichment of water vapor concentrations in the lowermost stratosphere impacts the radiation budget and thus climate. Understanding those variations in water vapor is important for climate projections.
Martin K. Vollmer, Dickon Young, Cathy M. Trudinger, Jens Mühle, Stephan Henne, Matthew Rigby, Sunyoung Park, Shanlan Li, Myriam Guillevic, Blagoj Mitrevski, Christina M. Harth, Benjamin R. Miller, Stefan Reimann, Bo Yao, L. Paul Steele, Simon A. Wyss, Chris R. Lunder, Jgor Arduini, Archie McCulloch, Songhao Wu, Tae Siek Rhee, Ray H. J. Wang, Peter K. Salameh, Ove Hermansen, Matthias Hill, Ray L. Langenfelds, Diane Ivy, Simon O'Doherty, Paul B. Krummel, Michela Maione, David M. Etheridge, Lingxi Zhou, Paul J. Fraser, Ronald G. Prinn, Ray F. Weiss, and Peter G. Simmonds
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 979–1002, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-979-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-979-2018, 2018
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We measured the three chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) CFC-13, CFC-114, and CFC-115 in the atmosphere because they are important in stratospheric ozone depletion. These compounds should have decreased in the atmosphere because they are banned by the Montreal Protocol but we find the opposite. Emissions over the last decade have not declined on a global scale. We use inverse modeling and our observations to find that a large part of the emissions originate in the Asian region.
Andreas Engel, Harald Bönisch, Jennifer Ostermöller, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Sandip Dhomse, and Patrick Jöckel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 601–619, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-601-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-601-2018, 2018
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We present a new method to derive equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine (EESC), which is based on an improved formulation of the propagation of trends of species with chemical loss from the troposphere to the stratosphere. EESC calculated with the new method shows much better agreement with model-derived ESC. Based on this new formulation, we expect the halogen impact on midlatitude stratospheric ozone to return to 1980 values about 10 years later, then using the current formulation.
Franziska Köllner, Johannes Schneider, Megan D. Willis, Thomas Klimach, Frank Helleis, Heiko Bozem, Daniel Kunkel, Peter Hoor, Julia Burkart, W. Richard Leaitch, Amir A. Aliabadi, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Andreas B. Herber, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 13747–13766, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13747-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13747-2017, 2017
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We conducted aircraft-based single particle chemical composition measurements in the Canadian high Arctic during summer. Our results provide evidence for a marine-biogenic influence on secondary formation of particulate trimethylamine in the Arctic boundary layer. Understanding emission sources and further processes controlling aerosol number concentration and chemical composition in the pristine Arctic summer is crucial for modeling future climate in the area.
Tilman Hüneke, Oliver-Alex Aderhold, Jannik Bounin, Marcel Dorf, Eric Gentry, Katja Grossmann, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Peter Hoor, Patrick Jöckel, Mareike Kenntner, Marvin Knapp, Matthias Knecht, Dominique Lörks, Sabrina Ludmann, Sigrun Matthes, Rasmus Raecke, Marcel Reichert, Jannis Weimar, Bodo Werner, Andreas Zahn, Helmut Ziereis, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4209–4234, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4209-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4209-2017, 2017
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This paper describes a novel instrument for the aircraft-borne remote sensing of trace gases and liquid and solid water. Until recently, such measurements could only be evaluated under clear-sky conditions. We present a characterization and error assessment of the novel "scaling method", which allows for the retrieval of absolute trace gas concentrations under all sky conditions, significantly expanding the applicability of such measurements to study atmospheric photochemistry.
Douglas B. Collins, Julia Burkart, Rachel Y.-W. Chang, Martine Lizotte, Aude Boivin-Rioux, Marjolaine Blais, Emma L. Mungall, Matthew Boyer, Victoria E. Irish, Guillaume Massé, Daniel Kunkel, Jean-Éric Tremblay, Tim Papakyriakou, Allan K. Bertram, Heiko Bozem, Michel Gosselin, Maurice Levasseur, and Jonathan P. D. Abbatt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 13119–13138, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13119-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13119-2017, 2017
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The sources of aerosol particles and their growth to sizes large enough to act as cloud droplet seeds is of major importance to climate since clouds exert substantial control over the atmospheric energy balance. Using ship-board measurements from two summers in the Canadian Arctic, aerosol formation events were related to co-sampled atmospheric and oceanic parameters, providing insight into factors that drive particle formation and motivating further study of ocean–atmosphere interactions.
Marcus Klingebiel, André Ehrlich, Fanny Finger, Timo Röschenthaler, Suad Jakirlić, Matthias Voigt, Stefan Müller, Rolf Maser, Manfred Wendisch, Peter Hoor, Peter Spichtinger, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3485–3498, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3485-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3485-2017, 2017
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Microphysical and radiation measurements were collected with the unique AIRcraft TOwed Sensor Shuttle (AIRTOSS) – Learjet tandem platform. It is a combination of a Learjet 35A research aircraft and an instrumented aerodynamic bird, which can be detached from and retracted back to the aircraft during flight.
AIRTOSS and Learjet are equipped with radiative, cloud microphysical, trace gas,
and meteorological instruments to study cirrus clouds.
Bengt G. Martinsson, Johan Friberg, Oscar S. Sandvik, Markus Hermann, Peter F. J. van Velthoven, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10937–10953, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10937-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10937-2017, 2017
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We find that the aerosol of the lowermost stratosphere has a considerable climate forcing. The upper tropospheric (UT) particulate sulfur is strongly influenced by stratospheric sources the first half of the year, whereas tropospheric sources dominate in fall; 50 % of the UT particulate sulfur (S) was found to be stratospheric at background condition, and 70 % under moderate influence from volcanism. The Asian monsoon is found to be an important tropospheric source of S in the NH extratropical UT.
Maria A. Navarro, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Carlos A. Cuevas, Rafael P. Fernandez, Elliot Atlas, Xavier Rodriguez-Lloveras, Douglas Kinnison, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Simone Tilmes, Troy Thornberry, Andrew Rollins, James W. Elkins, Eric J. Hintsa, and Fred L. Moore
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9917–9930, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9917-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9917-2017, 2017
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Inorganic bromine (Bry) plays an important role in ozone layer depletion. Based on aircraft observations of organic bromine species and chemistry simulations, we model the Bry abundances over the Pacific tropical tropopause. Our results show BrO and Br as the dominant species during daytime hours, and BrCl and BrONO2 as the nighttime dominant species over the western and eastern Pacific, respectively. The difference in the partitioning is due to changes in the abundance of O3, NO2, and Cly.
Ellen Eckert, Thomas von Clarmann, Alexandra Laeng, Gabriele P. Stiller, Bernd Funke, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Andrea Linden, Arne Babenhauserheide, Gerald Wetzel, Christopher Boone, Andreas Engel, Jeremy J. Harrison, Patrick E. Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, and Peter F. Bernath
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2727–2743, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2727-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2727-2017, 2017
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We retrieved vertical profiles of CCl4 from MIPAS Envisat IMK/IAA data. A detailed description of all characteristics is included in the paper as well as comparisons with historical measurements and comparisons with collocated measurements of instruments covering the same time span as MIPAS Envisat. A particular focus also lies on the usage of a new CCl4 spectroscopic dataset introduced recently, which leads to more realistic CCl4 volume mixing ratios.
Roya Ghahreman, Ann-Lise Norman, Betty Croft, Randall V. Martin, Jeffrey R. Pierce, Julia Burkart, Ofelia Rempillo, Heiko Bozem, Daniel Kunkel, Jennie L. Thomas, Amir A. Aliabadi, Gregory R. Wentworth, Maurice Levasseur, Ralf M. Staebler, Sangeeta Sharma, and W. Richard Leaitch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 8757–8770, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8757-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8757-2017, 2017
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We present spring and summertime vertical profile measurements of Arctic dimethyl sulfide (DMS), together with model simulations to consider what these profiles indicate about DMS sources and lifetimes in the Arctic. Our results highlight the role of local open water as the source of DMS(g) during July 2014 and the influence of long-range transport of DMS(g) from further afield in the Arctic during April 2015.
Andrea Mues, Maheswar Rupakheti, Christoph Münkel, Axel Lauer, Heiko Bozem, Peter Hoor, Tim Butler, and Mark G. Lawrence
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 8157–8176, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8157-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8157-2017, 2017
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Ceilometer measurements taken in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, were used to study the temporal and spatial evolution of the mixing layer height in the valley. This provides important information on the vertical structure of the atmosphere and can thus also help to understand the mixing of air pollutants (e.g. black carbon) in the valley. The seasonal and diurnal cycles of the mixing layer were found to be highly dependent on meteorology and mainly anticorrelated to black carbon concentrations.
Johannes Bieser, Franz Slemr, Jesse Ambrose, Carl Brenninkmeijer, Steve Brooks, Ashu Dastoor, Francesco DeSimone, Ralf Ebinghaus, Christian N. Gencarelli, Beate Geyer, Lynne E. Gratz, Ian M. Hedgecock, Daniel Jaffe, Paul Kelley, Che-Jen Lin, Lyatt Jaegle, Volker Matthias, Andrei Ryjkov, Noelle E. Selin, Shaojie Song, Oleg Travnikov, Andreas Weigelt, Winston Luke, Xinrong Ren, Andreas Zahn, Xin Yang, Yun Zhu, and Nicola Pirrone
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6925–6955, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6925-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6925-2017, 2017
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We conducted a multi model study to investigate our ability to reproduce the vertical distribution of mercury in the atmosphere. For this, we used observational data from over 40 aircraft flights in EU and US. We compared observations to the results of seven chemistry transport models and found that the models are able to reproduce vertical gradients of total and elemental Hg. Finally, we found that different chemical reactions seem responsible for the oxidation of Hg depending on altitude.
Olivier Membrive, Cyril Crevoisier, Colm Sweeney, François Danis, Albert Hertzog, Andreas Engel, Harald Bönisch, and Laurence Picon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2163–2181, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2163-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2163-2017, 2017
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A new high-resolution AirCore system is presented. This system flown with stratospheric balloons allows us to sample atmospheric air during the descent. The analysis of trace gases (CO2 and CH4 in this case) in the collected air sample provides information on the vertical distribution along the atmospheric column. The continuous vertical profiles retrieved may contribute to several research topics concerning the observation of greenhouse gases and, more generally, carbon cycle studies.
Andreas Engel, Harald Bönisch, Markus Ullrich, Robert Sitals, Olivier Membrive, Francois Danis, and Cyril Crevoisier
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6825–6838, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6825-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6825-2017, 2017
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AirCore is new technique for sampling stratospheric air. We present new observations of CO2 and CH4 using AirCore and derive stratospheric transport time, called the mean age of air. The purpose of using AirCore is to provide a cost-effective tool for deriving mean age. Mean age may serve as a proxy to investigate changes in stratospheric circulation. We show that there is no statistically significant trend in our 40-year time series of mean age, which is now extended using AirCore.
Klaus-D. Gottschaldt, Hans Schlager, Robert Baumann, Heiko Bozem, Veronika Eyring, Peter Hoor, Patrick Jöckel, Tina Jurkat, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Zahn, and Helmut Ziereis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6091–6111, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6091-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6091-2017, 2017
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We present upper-tropospheric trace gas measurements in the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone, obtained with the HALO research aircraft in September 2012. The anticyclone is one of the largest atmospheric features on Earth, but many aspects of it are not well understood. With the help of model simulations we find that entrainments from the tropopause region and the lower troposphere, combined with photochemistry and dynamical instabilities, can explain the observations.
Katrina M. Macdonald, Sangeeta Sharma, Desiree Toom, Alina Chivulescu, Sarah Hanna, Allan K. Bertram, Andrew Platt, Mike Elsasser, Lin Huang, David Tarasick, Nathan Chellman, Joseph R. McConnell, Heiko Bozem, Daniel Kunkel, Ying Duan Lei, Greg J. Evans, and Jonathan P. D. Abbatt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5775–5788, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5775-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5775-2017, 2017
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Rapid climate changes within the Arctic have highlighted existing uncertainties in the transport of contaminants to Arctic snow. Fresh snow samples collected frequently through the winter season were analyzed for major constituents creating a unique record of Arctic snow. Comparison with simultaneous atmospheric measurements provides insight into the driving processes in the transfer of contaminants from air to snow. The relative importance of deposition mechanisms over the season is proposed.
Julia Burkart, Megan D. Willis, Heiko Bozem, Jennie L. Thomas, Kathy Law, Peter Hoor, Amir A. Aliabadi, Franziska Köllner, Johannes Schneider, Andreas Herber, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, and W. Richard Leaitch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5515–5535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5515-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5515-2017, 2017
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Our aircraft study for the first time systematically investigates aerosol size distributions, including ultrafine particles (5–20 nm in diameter), in the Arctic summertime atmosphere. We find that ultrafine particles occur very frequently in the boundary layer and not aloft, suggesting a surface source of these particles. Understanding aerosol properties and sources is crucial to predict climate and especially important in the Arctic as this region responds extremely fast to climate change.
Liang Feng, Paul I. Palmer, Hartmut Bösch, Robert J. Parker, Alex J. Webb, Caio S. C. Correia, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Lucas G. Domingues, Dietrich G. Feist, Luciana V. Gatti, Emanuel Gloor, Frank Hase, Rigel Kivi, Yi Liu, John B. Miller, Isamu Morino, Ralf Sussmann, Kimberly Strong, Osamu Uchino, Jing Wang, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4781–4797, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4781-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4781-2017, 2017
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We use the GEOS-Chem global 3-D model of atmospheric chemistry and transport and an ensemble Kalman filter to simultaneously infer regional fluxes of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from GOSAT retrievals of XCH4:XCO2, using sparse ground-based CH4 and CO2 mole fraction data to anchor the ratio. Our results show that assimilation of GOSAT data significantly reduced the posterior uncertainty and changed the a priori spatial distribution of CH4 emissions.
Peter G. Simmonds, Matthew Rigby, Archie McCulloch, Simon O'Doherty, Dickon Young, Jens Mühle, Paul B. Krummel, Paul Steele, Paul J. Fraser, Alistair J. Manning, Ray F. Weiss, Peter K. Salameh, Chris M. Harth, Ray H. J. Wang, and Ronald G. Prinn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4641–4655, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4641-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4641-2017, 2017
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This paper reports how long-term atmospheric measurements demonstrate that the Montreal Protocol has been effective in controlling production and consumption of the hydrochlorofluorocarbons, a group of industrial chemicals that have detrimental effects on the ozone layer and also contribute to global warming as greenhouse gases and their hydrofluorocarbon substitutes which are also potent greenhouse gases but do not materially affect the ozone layer.
Johannes Wagner, Andreas Dörnbrack, Markus Rapp, Sonja Gisinger, Benedikt Ehard, Martina Bramberger, Benjamin Witschas, Fernando Chouza, Stephan Rahm, Christian Mallaun, Gerd Baumgarten, and Peter Hoor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4031–4052, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4031-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4031-2017, 2017
Mohamadou Diallo, Bernard Legras, Eric Ray, Andreas Engel, and Juan A. Añel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 3861–3878, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3861-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3861-2017, 2017
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We construct a new monthly zonal mean CO2 distribution from the upper troposphere to the stratosphere over the 2000–2010 period. The main features of the CO2 distribution are consistent with expected variability due to the transport of long-lived trace gases by the Brewer–Dobson circulation. The method used to construct this CO2 product is unique and should be useful for model and satellite validation in the upper troposphere and stratosphere.
Jennifer Ostermöller, Harald Bönisch, Patrick Jöckel, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 3785–3797, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3785-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3785-2017, 2017
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We analysed the temporal evolution of fractional release factors (FRFs) from EMAC model simulations for several halocarbons and nitrous oxide. The current formulation of FRFs yields values that depend on the tropospheric trend of the species. This is a problematic issue for the application of FRF in the calculation of steady-state quantities (e.g. ODP). Including a loss term in the calculation, we develop a new formulation of FRF and find that the time dependence can almost be compensated.
Jochen Stutz, Bodo Werner, Max Spolaor, Lisa Scalone, James Festa, Catalina Tsai, Ross Cheung, Santo F. Colosimo, Ugo Tricoli, Rasmus Raecke, Ryan Hossaini, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Wuhu Feng, Ru-Shan Gao, Eric J. Hintsa, James W. Elkins, Fred L. Moore, Bruce Daube, Jasna Pittman, Steven Wofsy, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1017–1042, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1017-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1017-2017, 2017
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A new limb-scanning Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) instrument was developed for NASA’s Global Hawk unmanned aerial system during the Airborne Tropical TRopopause EXperiment to study trace gases in the tropical tropopause layer. A new technique that uses in situ and DOAS O3 observations together with radiative transfer calculations allows the retrieval of mixing ratios from the slant column densities of BrO and NO2 at high accuracies of 0.5 ppt and 15 ppt, respectively.
Johannes Eckstein, Roland Ruhnke, Andreas Zahn, Marco Neumaier, Ole Kirner, and Peter Braesicke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 2775–2794, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2775-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2775-2017, 2017
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Data on atmospheric trace gases have been collected with instruments on-board a commercial airliner for more than 10 years in the CARIBIC project. We investigate which species in the dataset can be used for a representative climatology, by comparing data from the chemistry–climate model EMAC along the flight paths to a larger set of model data. We find that long-lived species are captured quite well by the CARIBIC sample while this is not the case for more variable, shorter-lived species.
Garlich Fischbeck, Harald Bönisch, Marco Neumaier, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, Johannes Orphal, Joel Brito, Julia Becker, Detlev Sprung, Peter F. J. van Velthoven, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1985–2008, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1985-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1985-2017, 2017
Bodo Werner, Jochen Stutz, Max Spolaor, Lisa Scalone, Rasmus Raecke, James Festa, Santo Fedele Colosimo, Ross Cheung, Catalina Tsai, Ryan Hossaini, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Giorgio S. Taverna, Wuhu Feng, James W. Elkins, David W. Fahey, Ru-Shan Gao, Erik J. Hintsa, Troy D. Thornberry, Free Lee Moore, Maria A. Navarro, Elliot Atlas, Bruce C. Daube, Jasna Pittman, Steve Wofsy, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1161–1186, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1161-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1161-2017, 2017
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The paper reports on inorganic and organic bromine measured in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) over the eastern Pacific in early 2013. Bryinorg is found to increase from a mean of 2.63 ± 1.04 ppt for θ in the range of 350–360 K to 5.11 ± 1.57 ppt for θ=390 ± 400 K, whereas in the subtropical lower stratosphere, it reaches 7.66 ± 2.95 ppt for θ in the range of 390–400 K. Within the TTL, total bromine is found to range from 20.3 ppt to 22.3 ppt.
Martyn P. Chipperfield, Qing Liang, Matthew Rigby, Ryan Hossaini, Stephen A. Montzka, Sandip Dhomse, Wuhu Feng, Ronald G. Prinn, Ray F. Weiss, Christina M. Harth, Peter K. Salameh, Jens Mühle, Simon O'Doherty, Dickon Young, Peter G. Simmonds, Paul B. Krummel, Paul J. Fraser, L. Paul Steele, James D. Happell, Robert C. Rhew, James Butler, Shari A. Yvon-Lewis, Bradley Hall, David Nance, Fred Moore, Ben R. Miller, James W. Elkins, Jeremy J. Harrison, Chris D. Boone, Elliot L. Atlas, and Emmanuel Mahieu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 15741–15754, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-15741-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-15741-2016, 2016
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Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is a compound which, when released into the atmosphere, can cause depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. Its emissions are controlled under the Montreal Protocol, and its atmospheric abundance is slowly decreasing. However, this decrease is not as fast as expected based on estimates of its emissions and its atmospheric lifetime. We have used an atmospheric model to look at the uncertainties in the CCl4 lifetime and to examine the impact on its atmospheric decay.
Bärbel Vogel, Gebhard Günther, Rolf Müller, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Armin Afchine, Heiko Bozem, Peter Hoor, Martina Krämer, Stefan Müller, Martin Riese, Christian Rolf, Nicole Spelten, Gabriele P. Stiller, Jörn Ungermann, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 15301–15325, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-15301-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-15301-2016, 2016
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The identification of transport pathways from the Asian monsoon anticyclone into the lower stratosphere is unclear. Global simulations with the CLaMS model demonstrate that source regions in Asia and in the Pacific Ocean have a significant impact on the chemical composition of the lower stratosphere of the Northern Hemisphere by flooding the extratropical lower stratosphere with young moist air masses. Two main horizontal transport pathways from the Asian monsoon anticyclone are identified.
Florian Obersteiner, Harald Bönisch, Timo Keber, Simon O'Doherty, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 5265–5279, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5265-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5265-2016, 2016
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The analysis of trace gases in ambient air requires a preconcentration technique, in many cases to make the species of interest detectable and quantifiable. In this paper, such a preconcentration set-up is presented. Target species are trapped on adsorptive material cooled by a Stirling cooler which allows for a very low adsorption temperature but only requires electrical power. A simple and lightweight mechanical design guarantees very good suitability for remote-site field operation.
Cathy M. Trudinger, Paul J. Fraser, David M. Etheridge, William T. Sturges, Martin K. Vollmer, Matt Rigby, Patricia Martinerie, Jens Mühle, David R. Worton, Paul B. Krummel, L. Paul Steele, Benjamin R. Miller, Johannes Laube, Francis S. Mani, Peter J. Rayner, Christina M. Harth, Emmanuel Witrant, Thomas Blunier, Jakob Schwander, Simon O'Doherty, and Mark Battle
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11733–11754, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016, 2016
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Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are potent, long-lived and mostly man-made greenhouse gases released to the atmosphere mainly during aluminium production and semiconductor manufacture. Here we present the first continuous histories of three PFCs from 1800 to 2014, derived from measurements of these PFCs in the atmosphere and in air bubbles in polar ice. The records show how human actions have affected these important greenhouse gases over the past century.
Mark F. Lunt, Matt Rigby, Anita L. Ganesan, and Alistair J. Manning
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 3213–3229, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3213-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3213-2016, 2016
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Bayesian inversions can be used to estimate emissions of gases from atmospheric data. We present an inversion framework that objectively defines the basis functions, which describe regions of emissions. The framework allows for the uncertainty in the choice of basis functions to be propagated through to the posterior emissions distribution in a single-step process, and provides an alternative to using a single set of basis functions.
W. Richard Leaitch, Alexei Korolev, Amir A. Aliabadi, Julia Burkart, Megan D. Willis, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Heiko Bozem, Peter Hoor, Franziska Köllner, Johannes Schneider, Andreas Herber, Christian Konrad, and Ralf Brauner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11107–11124, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11107-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11107-2016, 2016
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Thought to be mostly unimportant for summertime Arctic liquid-water clouds, airborne observations show that atmospheric aerosol particles 50 nm in diameter or smaller and most likely from natural sources are often involved in cloud formation in the pristine Arctic summer. The result expands the reference for aerosol forcing of climate. Further, for extremely low droplet concentrations, no evidence is found for a connection between cloud liquid water and aerosol particle concentrations.
Stefan Müller, Peter Hoor, Heiko Bozem, Ellen Gute, Bärbel Vogel, Andreas Zahn, Harald Bönisch, Timo Keber, Martina Krämer, Christian Rolf, Martin Riese, Hans Schlager, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 10573–10589, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10573-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10573-2016, 2016
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In situ airborne measurements performed during TACTS/ESMVal 2012 were analysed to investigate the chemical compostion of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. N2O, CO and O3 data show an increase in tropospherically affected air masses within the extratropical stratosphere from August to September 2012, which originate from the Asian monsoon region. Thus, the Asian monsoon anticyclone significantly affected the chemical composition of the extratropical stratosphere during summer 2012.
E. Eckert, A. Laeng, S. Lossow, S. Kellmann, G. Stiller, T. von Clarmann, N. Glatthor, M. Höpfner, M. Kiefer, H. Oelhaf, J. Orphal, B. Funke, U. Grabowski, F. Haenel, A. Linden, G. Wetzel, W. Woiwode, P. F. Bernath, C. Boone, G. S. Dutton, J. W. Elkins, A. Engel, J. C. Gille, F. Kolonjari, T. Sugita, G. C. Toon, and K. A. Walker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 3355–3389, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3355-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3355-2016, 2016
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We investigate the accuracy, precision and long-term stability of the MIPAS Envisat IMK/IAA CFC-11 (CCl3F) and CFC-12 (CCl2F2) products.
For comparisons we use several data products from satellite, airplane and balloon-borne instruments as well as ground-based data.
MIPAS Envisat CFC-11 has a slight high bias at the lower end of the profile.
CFC-12 agrees well with other data products.
The temporal stability is good up to ~ 30 km, but still leaves room for improvement.
R. Hossaini, P. K. Patra, A. A. Leeson, G. Krysztofiak, N. L. Abraham, S. J. Andrews, A. T. Archibald, J. Aschmann, E. L. Atlas, D. A. Belikov, H. Bönisch, L. J. Carpenter, S. Dhomse, M. Dorf, A. Engel, W. Feng, S. Fuhlbrügge, P. T. Griffiths, N. R. P. Harris, R. Hommel, T. Keber, K. Krüger, S. T. Lennartz, S. Maksyutov, H. Mantle, G. P. Mills, B. Miller, S. A. Montzka, F. Moore, M. A. Navarro, D. E. Oram, K. Pfeilsticker, J. A. Pyle, B. Quack, A. D. Robinson, E. Saikawa, A. Saiz-Lopez, S. Sala, B.-M. Sinnhuber, S. Taguchi, S. Tegtmeier, R. T. Lidster, C. Wilson, and F. Ziska
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9163–9187, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9163-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9163-2016, 2016
Joe McNorton, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Manuel Gloor, Chris Wilson, Wuhu Feng, Garry D. Hayman, Matt Rigby, Paul B. Krummel, Simon O'Doherty, Ronald G. Prinn, Ray F. Weiss, Dickon Young, Ed Dlugokencky, and Steve A. Montzka
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 7943–7956, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7943-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7943-2016, 2016
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Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas. The growth of atmospheric CH4 stalled from 1999 to 2006, with current explanations focussed mainly on changing surface fluxes. We combine models with observations and meteorological data to assess the atmospheric contribution to CH4 changes. We find that variations in mean atmospheric hydroxyl concentration can explain part of the stall in growth. Our study highlights the role of multi-annual variability in atmospheric chemistry in global CH4 trends.
Amir A. Aliabadi, Jennie L. Thomas, Andreas B. Herber, Ralf M. Staebler, W. Richard Leaitch, Hannes Schulz, Kathy S. Law, Louis Marelle, Julia Burkart, Megan D. Willis, Heiko Bozem, Peter M. Hoor, Franziska Köllner, Johannes Schneider, Maurice Levasseur, and Jonathan P. D. Abbatt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 7899–7916, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7899-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7899-2016, 2016
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For the first time, ship emissions of an ice-breaker, the Amundsen, is characterized while breaking ice in the Canadian Arctic using the plume intercepts by the Polar 6 aircraft. The study is novel, estimating lower plume expansion rates over the stable Arctic marine boundary layer and different emissions factors for oxides of nitrogen, black carbon, and carbon monoxide, compared to plume intercept studies in mid latitudes. These results can inform policy making and emission inventory datasets.
Megan D. Willis, Julia Burkart, Jennie L. Thomas, Franziska Köllner, Johannes Schneider, Heiko Bozem, Peter M. Hoor, Amir A. Aliabadi, Hannes Schulz, Andreas B. Herber, W. Richard Leaitch, and Jonathan P. D. Abbatt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 7663–7679, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7663-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7663-2016, 2016
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We present a case study focused on an aerosol growth event observed in the Canadian High Arctic during summer. Using measurements of aerosol chemical and physical properties we find evidence for aerosol growth into cloud condensation nuclei-active sizes, through marine-influenced secondary organic aerosol formation. Understanding the mechanisms that control the formation and growth of aerosol is crucial for our ability to predict cloud properties, and therefore radiative balance and climate.
Franz Slemr, Andreas Weigelt, Ralf Ebinghaus, Hans H. Kock, Jan Bödewadt, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, Armin Rauthe-Schöch, Stefan Weber, Markus Hermann, Julia Becker, Andreas Zahn, and Bengt Martinsson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2291–2302, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2291-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2291-2016, 2016
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The goal of CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrumented Container) is to carry out regular and detailed observations of atmospheric chemistry at 9–12 km altitude. Mercury has been measured since May 2005 during intercontinental flights between Europe and South and North America, Africa, and Asia. Here we describe the instrument modifications, the post-flight processing of the raw instrument signal, and the fractionation experiments.
Florian Berkes, Peter Hoor, Heiko Bozem, Daniel Kunkel, Michael Sprenger, and Stephan Henne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 6011–6025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6011-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6011-2016, 2016
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We presented airborne measurements of CO2 and O3 across the entrainment zone over a semi-remote environment in southwestern Germany in late summer 2011 .
For the first time CO2 and O3 were used as tracer to identify mixing through this transport barrier. We demonstrated that the tracer--tracer correlation of CO2 and O3 is a powerful tool to identify entrainment and mixing.
Markus Hermann, Andreas Weigelt, Denise Assmann, Sascha Pfeifer, Thomas Müller, Thomas Conrath, Jens Voigtländer, Jost Heintzenberg, Alfred Wiedensohler, Bengt G. Martinsson, Terry Deshler, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2179–2194, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2179-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2179-2016, 2016
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Aerosol particles are an important component of the Earth's atmosphere. Here we describe the composition and characterization of a new optical particle size spectrometer (OPSS) for aircraft-borne measurements of the aerosol particle size distribution (how many particles there are with a certain size) in the 140–1050 nm size range. The OPSS was characterized throughout concerning its measurement capabilities (response, pressure dependence, coincidence) and validated versus balloon measurement.
Luke M. Western, Peter N. Francis, I. Matthew Watson, and Shona Mackie
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-92, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-92, 2016
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
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This work aims to infer the size distribution of airborne volcanic ash using satellite measurements. The size distribution of volcanic ash is typically described using two parameters, of which one is normally assumed and one can be measured using satellites. This work shows that it is possible, using a satellite with high spectral resolution, to retrieve both parameters. This work has been done to reduce uncertainty in mass calculations for airspace management during volcanic unrest.
N. Sobanski, M. J. Tang, J. Thieser, G. Schuster, D. Pöhler, H. Fischer, W. Song, C. Sauvage, J. Williams, J. Fachinger, F. Berkes, P. Hoor, U. Platt, J. Lelieveld, and J. N. Crowley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 4867–4883, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4867-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4867-2016, 2016
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The nitrate radical (NO3) is an important nocturnal oxidant. By measuring NO3, its precursors (nitrogen dioxide and ozone) and several trace gases with which it reacts, we examined the chemical and meteorological factors influencing the lifetime of NO3 at a semi-rural mountain site. Unexpectedly long lifetimes, approaching 1 h, were observed on several nights and were associated with a low-lying residual layer. We discuss the role of other reactions that convert NO2 to NO3.
Patrick Jöckel, Holger Tost, Andrea Pozzer, Markus Kunze, Oliver Kirner, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, Sabine Brinkop, Duy S. Cai, Christoph Dyroff, Johannes Eckstein, Franziska Frank, Hella Garny, Klaus-Dirk Gottschaldt, Phoebe Graf, Volker Grewe, Astrid Kerkweg, Bastian Kern, Sigrun Matthes, Mariano Mertens, Stefanie Meul, Marco Neumaier, Matthias Nützel, Sophie Oberländer-Hayn, Roland Ruhnke, Theresa Runde, Rolf Sander, Dieter Scharffe, and Andreas Zahn
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 1153–1200, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1153-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1153-2016, 2016
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With an advanced numerical global chemistry climate model (CCM) we performed several detailed
combined hind-cast and projection simulations of the period 1950 to 2100 to assess the
past, present, and potential future dynamical and chemical state of the Earth atmosphere.
The manuscript documents the model and the various applied model set-ups and provides
a first evaluation of the simulation results from a global perspective as a quality check of the data.
Andreas Weigelt, Ralf Ebinghaus, Nicola Pirrone, Johannes Bieser, Jan Bödewadt, Giulio Esposito, Franz Slemr, Peter F. J. van Velthoven, Andreas Zahn, and Helmut Ziereis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 4135–4146, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4135-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4135-2016, 2016
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We show the first mercury profile measurements over Europe since 1996. Besides gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) and total gaseous mercury (TGM), the gases CO, SO2, NOx, and O3 were measured from aboard a research aircraft over four European locations. Compared to the boundary layer, the concentration of GEM and TGM in the free troposphere was 10–30% lower. Inside the individual layers no vertical gradient was apparent. Combined with CARIBIC data, a unique profile from 0.4 to 10.5 km is provided.
Armin Rauthe-Schöch, Angela K. Baker, Tanja J. Schuck, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, Andreas Zahn, Markus Hermann, Greta Stratmann, Helmut Ziereis, Peter F. J. van Velthoven, and Jos Lelieveld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3609–3629, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3609-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3609-2016, 2016
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The flying laboratory CARIBIC onboard a passenger aircraft measured trace gases and aerosol particles in the upper tropospheric Indian summer monsoon anticyclone in summer 2008. We used the measurements together with meteorological analyses to investigate the chemical signature of the northern and southern part of the monsoon, the source regions from where the air was entrained into the monsoon and which parts of the world received polluted air that had been chemically processed in the monsoon.
N. I. Kristiansen, A. Stohl, D. J. L. Olivié, B. Croft, O. A. Søvde, H. Klein, T. Christoudias, D. Kunkel, S. J. Leadbetter, Y. H. Lee, K. Zhang, K. Tsigaridis, T. Bergman, N. Evangeliou, H. Wang, P.-L. Ma, R. C. Easter, P. J. Rasch, X. Liu, G. Pitari, G. Di Genova, S. Y. Zhao, Y. Balkanski, S. E. Bauer, G. S. Faluvegi, H. Kokkola, R. V. Martin, J. R. Pierce, M. Schulz, D. Shindell, H. Tost, and H. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3525–3561, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3525-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3525-2016, 2016
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Processes affecting aerosol removal from the atmosphere are not fully understood. In this study we investigate to what extent atmospheric transport models can reproduce observed loss of aerosols. We compare measurements of radioactive isotopes, that attached to ambient sulfate aerosols during the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, to 19 models using identical emissions. Results indicate aerosol removal that is too fast in most models, and apply to aerosols that have undergone long-range transport.
M. Chirkov, G. P. Stiller, A. Laeng, S. Kellmann, T. von Clarmann, C. D. Boone, J. W. Elkins, A. Engel, N. Glatthor, U. Grabowski, C. M. Harth, M. Kiefer, F. Kolonjari, P. B. Krummel, A. Linden, C. R. Lunder, B. R. Miller, S. A. Montzka, J. Mühle, S. O'Doherty, J. Orphal, R. G. Prinn, G. Toon, M. K. Vollmer, K. A. Walker, R. F. Weiss, A. Wiegele, and D. Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3345–3368, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3345-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3345-2016, 2016
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HCFC-22 global distributions from MIPAS measurements for 2005 to 2012 are presented. Tropospheric trends are in good agreement with ground-based observations. A layer of enhanced HCFC-22 in the upper tropospheric tropics and northern subtropics is identified to come from Asian sources uplifted in the Asian monsoon. Stratospheric distributions provide show seasonal, semi-annual, and QBO-related variations. Hemispheric asymmetries of trends hint towards a change in the stratospheric circulation.
Andreas Engel, Harald Bönisch, Tim Schwarzenberger, Hans-Peter Haase, Katja Grunow, Jana Abalichin, and Stephan Sala
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 1051–1062, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1051-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1051-2016, 2016
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We present a validation of MIPAS-ENVISAT vertical profiles (ESA operational retrieval version 6.0) of N2O, CH4, CFC-12, and CFC-11. The geophysical validation is performed using data from a balloon-borne cryogenic whole air sampler and trajectory matching. We show that the validation results are different for the period prior to 2005 compared to the post 2005 period. N2O, CH4, and CFC-12 show partly good agreement while CFC-11 data from this retrieval cannot be used for scientific studies.
F. Obersteiner, H. Bönisch, and A. Engel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 179–194, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-179-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-179-2016, 2016
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We present the characterization and application of a new gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry instrument, with focus on quantitative analysis of halocarbons in air samples. The applicability of the TOFMS technique, e.g. to form the basis of a "digital air archieve", is supported by the findings of this work: very high sensitivity, high measurement precision, a large dynamical range and an open data format which allows in-depth analysis of the data.
D. Kunkel, P. Hoor, and V. Wirth
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 541–560, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-541-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-541-2016, 2016
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By conducting various simulations of dry and moist baroclinic life cycles, we aimed to improve the understanding of whether dynamical or diabatic processes are more relevant to form a tropopause inversion layer at midlatitudes. Most importantly, our experiments highlighted the role of different moisture related processes for the formation and evolution of the tropopause inversion layer with varying relevance and strength in different phases of the baroclinic life cycles.
P. G. Simmonds, M. Rigby, A. J. Manning, M. F. Lunt, S. O'Doherty, A. McCulloch, P. J. Fraser, S. Henne, M. K. Vollmer, J. Mühle, R. F. Weiss, P. K. Salameh, D. Young, S. Reimann, A. Wenger, T. Arnold, C. M. Harth, P. B. Krummel, L. P. Steele, B. L. Dunse, B. R. Miller, C. R. Lunder, O. Hermansen, N. Schmidbauer, T. Saito, Y. Yokouchi, S. Park, S. Li, B. Yao, L. X. Zhou, J. Arduini, M. Maione, R. H. J. Wang, D. Ivy, and R. G. Prinn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 365–382, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-365-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-365-2016, 2016
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We report regional and global emissions estimates of HFC-152a using high frequency measurements from 11 observing sites and archived air samples dating back to 1978 together with atmospheric transport models. The "bottom-up" emissions of HFC-152a reported to the UNFCCC appear to significantly underestimate those reported here from observations. This discrepancy we suggest arises from largely underestimated USA and undeclared Asian emissions.
Christiane Hofmann, Astrid Kerkweg, Peter Hoor, and Patrick Jöckel
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2015-949, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2015-949, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
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Ozone enhancements at the surface, caused by descending stratospheric air masses along deep tropopause folds, can be reproduced using the model system MECO(n). It is shown that stratosphere-troposphere-exchange (STE) in the vicinity of a tropopause fold occurs in regions of turbulence and diabatic processes. The efficiency of mixing is quantified, showing that almost all of the air masses originating in the tropopause fold are transported into the troposphere during the following two days.
A. Laeng, J. Plieninger, T. von Clarmann, U. Grabowski, G. Stiller, E. Eckert, N. Glatthor, F. Haenel, S. Kellmann, M. Kiefer, A. Linden, S. Lossow, L. Deaver, A. Engel, M. Hervig, I. Levin, M. McHugh, S. Noël, G. Toon, and K. Walker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 5251–5261, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5251-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5251-2015, 2015
S. T. Lennartz, G. Krysztofiak, C. A. Marandino, B.-M. Sinnhuber, S. Tegtmeier, F. Ziska, R. Hossaini, K. Krüger, S. A. Montzka, E. Atlas, D. E. Oram, T. Keber, H. Bönisch, and B. Quack
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11753–11772, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11753-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11753-2015, 2015
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Marine-produced short-lived trace gases such as halocarbons and DMS significantly impact atmospheric chemistry. To assess this impact on ozone depletion and the radiative budget, it is critical that their marine emissions in atmospheric chemistry models are quantified as accurately as possible. We show that calculating emissions online with an interactive atmosphere improves the agreement with current observations and should be employed regularly in models where marine sources are important.
C. Rolf, A. Afchine, H. Bozem, B. Buchholz, V. Ebert, T. Guggenmoser, P. Hoor, P. Konopka, E. Kretschmer, S. Müller, H. Schlager, N. Spelten, O. Sumińska-Ebersoldt, J. Ungermann, A. Zahn, and M. Krämer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 9143–9158, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9143-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9143-2015, 2015
J. Ungermann, J. Blank, M. Dick, A. Ebersoldt, F. Friedl-Vallon, A. Giez, T. Guggenmoser, M. Höpfner, T. Jurkat, M. Kaufmann, S. Kaufmann, A. Kleinert, M. Krämer, T. Latzko, H. Oelhaf, F. Olchewski, P. Preusse, C. Rolf, J. Schillings, O. Suminska-Ebersoldt, V. Tan, N. Thomas, C. Voigt, A. Zahn, M. Zöger, and M. Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2473–2489, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2473-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2473-2015, 2015
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The GLORIA sounder is an airborne infrared limb-imager combining a two-dimensional infrared detector with a Fourier transform spectrometer. It was operated aboard the new German Gulfstream G550 research aircraft HALO during the TACTS and ESMVAL campaigns in summer 2012. This paper describes the retrieval of temperature, as well as H2O, HNO3, and O3 cross sections from GLORIA dynamics mode spectra. A high correlation is achieved between the remote sensing and the in situ trace gas measurements.
W. Frey, R. Schofield, P. Hoor, D. Kunkel, F. Ravegnani, A. Ulanovsky, S. Viciani, F. D'Amato, and T. P. Lane
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 6467–6486, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6467-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6467-2015, 2015
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This study examines the simulated downward transport and mixing of stratospheric air into the upper tropical troposphere as observed on a research flight during the SCOUT-O3 campaign in connection with a deep convective system, using the WRF model. Passive tracers are initialised to study the impact of the deep convection on the tracers and water vapour. We use the model to explain the processes causing the transport and also expose areas of inconsistencies between the model and observations.
J. Hoker, F. Obersteiner, H. Bönisch, and A. Engel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2195–2206, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2195-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2195-2015, 2015
C. Dyroff, S. Sanati, E. Christner, A. Zahn, M. Balzer, H. Bouquet, J. B. McManus, Y. González-Ramos, and M. Schneider
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2037–2049, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2037-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2037-2015, 2015
M. Kaufmann, J. Blank, T. Guggenmoser, J. Ungermann, A. Engel, M. Ern, F. Friedl-Vallon, D. Gerber, J. U. Grooß, G. Guenther, M. Höpfner, A. Kleinert, E. Kretschmer, Th. Latzko, G. Maucher, T. Neubert, H. Nordmeyer, H. Oelhaf, F. Olschewski, J. Orphal, P. Preusse, H. Schlager, H. Schneider, D. Schuettemeyer, F. Stroh, O. Suminska-Ebersoldt, B. Vogel, C. M. Volk, W. Woiwode, and M. Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 81–95, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-81-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-81-2015, 2015
R. Pommrich, R. Müller, J.-U. Grooß, P. Konopka, F. Ploeger, B. Vogel, M. Tao, C. M. Hoppe, G. Günther, N. Spelten, L. Hoffmann, H.-C. Pumphrey, S. Viciani, F. D'Amato, C. M. Volk, P. Hoor, H. Schlager, and M. Riese
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 2895–2916, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-2895-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-2895-2014, 2014
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A version of the chemical transport model CLaMS is presented, which features a simplified (numerically inexpensive) chemistry scheme. The model results using this version of CLaMS show a good representation of anomaly fields of CO, CH4, N2O, and CFC-11 in the lower stratosphere. CO measurements of three instruments (COLD, HAGAR, and Falcon-CO) in the lower tropical stratosphere (during the campaign TROCCINOX in 2005) have been compared and show a good agreement within the error bars.
B. Vogel, G. Günther, R. Müller, J.-U. Grooß, P. Hoor, M. Krämer, S. Müller, A. Zahn, and M. Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 12745–12762, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12745-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12745-2014, 2014
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Enhanced tropospheric trace gases (e.g. pollutants) were measured in situ in
the lowermost stratosphere over Northern Europe on 26 September 2012
during the TACTS aircraft campaign. We found that the combination of rapid uplift by a typhoon and eastward eddy shedding from the Asian monsoon anticyclone is a novel fast transport pathway
that may carry boundary emissions from Southeast
Asia/western Pacific within approximately 5 weeks to the lowermost
stratosphere in Northern Europe.
C. Warneke, F. Geiger, P. M. Edwards, W. Dube, G. Pétron, J. Kofler, A. Zahn, S. S. Brown, M. Graus, J. B. Gilman, B. M. Lerner, J. Peischl, T. B. Ryerson, J. A. de Gouw, and J. M. Roberts
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 10977–10988, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10977-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10977-2014, 2014
S. O'Doherty, M. Rigby, J. Mühle, D. J. Ivy, B. R. Miller, D. Young, P. G. Simmonds, S. Reimann, M. K. Vollmer, P. B. Krummel, P. J. Fraser, L. P. Steele, B. Dunse, P. K. Salameh, C. M. Harth, T. Arnold, R. F. Weiss, J. Kim, S. Park, S. Li, C. Lunder, O. Hermansen, N. Schmidbauer, L. X. Zhou, B. Yao, R. H. J. Wang, A. J. Manning, and R. G. Prinn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 9249–9258, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9249-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9249-2014, 2014
A. Tilgner, L. Schöne, P. Bräuer, D. van Pinxteren, E. Hoffmann, G. Spindler, S. A. Styler, S. Mertes, W. Birmili, R. Otto, M. Merkel, K. Weinhold, A. Wiedensohler, H. Deneke, R. Schrödner, R. Wolke, J. Schneider, W. Haunold, A. Engel, A. Wéber, and H. Herrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 9105–9128, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9105-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9105-2014, 2014
B. G. Martinsson, J. Friberg, S. M. Andersson, A. Weigelt, M. Hermann, D. Assmann, J. Voigtländer, C. A. M. Brenninkmeijer, P. J. F. van Velthoven, and A. Zahn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 2581–2596, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2581-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2581-2014, 2014
S. Sala, H. Bönisch, T. Keber, D. E. Oram, G. Mills, and A. Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 6903–6923, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6903-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6903-2014, 2014
M. Riese, H. Oelhaf, P. Preusse, J. Blank, M. Ern, F. Friedl-Vallon, H. Fischer, T. Guggenmoser, M. Höpfner, P. Hoor, M. Kaufmann, J. Orphal, F. Plöger, R. Spang, O. Suminska-Ebersoldt, J. Ungermann, B. Vogel, and W. Woiwode
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1915–1928, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1915-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1915-2014, 2014
K.-P. Heue, H. Riede, D. Walter, C. A. M. Brenninkmeijer, T. Wagner, U. Frieß, U. Platt, A. Zahn, G. Stratmann, and H. Ziereis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 6621–6642, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6621-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6621-2014, 2014
E. Saikawa, R. G. Prinn, E. Dlugokencky, K. Ishijima, G. S. Dutton, B. D. Hall, R. Langenfelds, Y. Tohjima, T. Machida, M. Manizza, M. Rigby, S. O'Doherty, P. K. Patra, C. M. Harth, R. F. Weiss, P. B. Krummel, M. van der Schoot, P. J. Fraser, L. P. Steele, S. Aoki, T. Nakazawa, and J. W. Elkins
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 4617–4641, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-4617-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-4617-2014, 2014
A. L. Ganesan, M. Rigby, A. Zammit-Mangion, A. J. Manning, R. G. Prinn, P. J. Fraser, C. M. Harth, K.-R. Kim, P. B. Krummel, S. Li, J. Mühle, S. J. O'Doherty, S. Park, P. K. Salameh, L. P. Steele, and R. F. Weiss
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3855–3864, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3855-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3855-2014, 2014
A. Wisher, D. E. Oram, J. C. Laube, G. P. Mills, P. van Velthoven, A. Zahn, and C. A. M. Brenninkmeijer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3557–3570, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3557-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3557-2014, 2014
C. Dyroff, A. Zahn, S. Sanati, E. Christner, A. Rauthe-Schöch, and T. J. Schuck
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 743–755, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-743-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-743-2014, 2014
C. Liu, S. Beirle, T. Butler, P. Hoor, C. Frankenberg, P. Jöckel, M. Penning de Vries, U. Platt, A. Pozzer, M. G. Lawrence, J. Lelieveld, H. Tost, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1717–1732, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1717-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1717-2014, 2014
S. Tegtmeier, K. Krüger, B. Quack, E. Atlas, D. R. Blake, H. Boenisch, A. Engel, H. Hepach, R. Hossaini, M. A. Navarro, S. Raimund, S. Sala, Q. Shi, and F. Ziska
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11869–11886, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11869-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11869-2013, 2013
R. Hossaini, H. Mantle, M. P. Chipperfield, S. A. Montzka, P. Hamer, F. Ziska, B. Quack, K. Krüger, S. Tegtmeier, E. Atlas, S. Sala, A. Engel, H. Bönisch, T. Keber, D. Oram, G. Mills, C. Ordóñez, A. Saiz-Lopez, N. Warwick, Q. Liang, W. Feng, F. Moore, B. R. Miller, V. Marécal, N. A. D. Richards, M. Dorf, and K. Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11819–11838, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11819-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11819-2013, 2013
J. Yoon, A. Pozzer, P. Hoor, D. Y. Chang, S. Beirle, T. Wagner, S. Schloegl, J. Lelieveld, and H. M. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11307–11316, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11307-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11307-2013, 2013
P. D. Hamer, V. Marécal, R. Hossaini, M. Pirre, N. Warwick, M. Chipperfield, A. A. Samah, N. Harris, A. Robinson, B. Quack, A. Engel, K. Krüger, E. Atlas, K. Subramaniam, D. Oram, Emma C. Leedham Elvidge, G. Mills, K. Pfeilsticker, S. Sala, T. Keber, H. Bönisch, L. K. Peng, M. S. M. Nadzir, P. T. Lim, A. Mujahid, A. Anton, H. Schlager, V. Catoire, G. Krysztofiak, S. Fühlbrügge, M. Dorf, and W. T. Sturges
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-13-20611-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-13-20611-2013, 2013
Revised manuscript not accepted
C. Crevoisier, D. Nobileau, R. Armante, L. Crépeau, T. Machida, Y. Sawa, H. Matsueda, T. Schuck, T. Thonat, J. Pernin, N. A. Scott, and A. Chédin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 4279–4289, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4279-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4279-2013, 2013
D. Kunkel, H. Tost, and M. G. Lawrence
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 4203–4222, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4203-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4203-2013, 2013
J. C. Laube, A. Keil, H. Bönisch, A. Engel, T. Röckmann, C. M. Volk, and W. T. Sturges
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 2779–2791, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-2779-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-2779-2013, 2013
D. A. Belikov, S. Maksyutov, M. Krol, A. Fraser, M. Rigby, H. Bian, A. Agusti-Panareda, D. Bergmann, P. Bousquet, P. Cameron-Smith, M. P. Chipperfield, A. Fortems-Cheiney, E. Gloor, K. Haynes, P. Hess, S. Houweling, S. R. Kawa, R. M. Law, Z. Loh, L. Meng, P. I. Palmer, P. K. Patra, R. G. Prinn, R. Saito, and C. Wilson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 1093–1114, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1093-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1093-2013, 2013
J. Lelieveld, M. G. Lawrence, and D. Kunkel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 31–34, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-31-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-31-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Gases | Research Activity: Field Measurements | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Volatile organic compound sources and impacts in an urban Mediterranean area (Marseille, France)
Short-lived organic nitrates in a suburban temperate forest: an indication of efficient assimilation of reactive nitrogen by the biosphere?
Spatiotemporal variations in atmospheric CH4 concentrations and enhancements in northern China based on a comprehensive dataset: ground-based observations, TROPOMI data, inventory data, and inversions
Marine emissions and trade winds control the atmospheric nitrous oxide in the Galapagos Islands
Measurement report: A complex street-level air quality observation campaign in a heavy-traffic area utilizing the multivariate adaptive regression splines method for field calibration of low-cost sensors
The impact of organic nitrates on summer ozone formation in Shanghai, China
Differences in the key volatile organic compound species between their emitted and ambient concentrations in ozone formation
Mechanistic insights into chloroacetic acid production from atmospheric multiphase volatile organic compound–chlorine chemistry
Understanding summertime H2O2 chemistry in North China Plain through observations and modelling studies
Accurate elucidation of oxidation under heavy ozone pollution: a full suite of radical measurements in the chemically complex atmosphere
Carbonyl compounds from typical combustion sources: emission characteristics, influencing factors, and their contribution to ozone formation
Emissions of intermediate-volatility and semi-volatile organic compounds (I/SVOCs) from different cumulative-mileage diesel vehicles at various ambient temperatures
Characterization of nitrous acid and its potential effects on secondary pollution in the warm season in Beijing urban areas
Vertical changes in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and impacts on photochemical ozone formation
Diurnal, seasonal, and interannual variations in δ(18O) of atmospheric O2 and its application to evaluate natural and anthropogenic changes in oxygen, carbon, and water cycles
Cloud processing of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) oxidation products limits sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbonyl sulfide (OCS) production in the eastern North Atlantic marine boundary layer
Atmospheric carbonyl compounds are crucial in regional ozone heavy pollution: insights from the Chengdu Plain Urban Agglomeration, China
Evaluating urban methane emissions and their attributes in a megacity, Osaka, Japan, via mobile and eddy covariance measurements
Ozone (O3) observations in Saxony, Germany for 1997–2020: Trends, modelling and implications for O3 control
Understanding summertime peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) formation and its relation to aerosol pollution: insights from high-resolution measurements and modeling
Measurement report: Exploring the variations in ambient BTEX in urban Europe and their environmental health implications
Seasonal air concentration variability, gas–particle partitioning, precipitation scavenging, and air–water equilibrium of organophosphate esters in southern Canada
Global Ground-based Tropospheric Ozone Measurements: Reference Data and Individual Site Trends (2000–2022) from the TOAR-II/HEGIFTOM Project
Tracing elevated abundance of CH2Cl2 in the subarctic upper troposphere to the Asian Summer Monsoon
Measurement report: Surface exchange fluxes of HONO during the growth process of paddy fields in the Huaihe River Basin, China
Hemispheric differences in ozone across the stratosphere-troposphere exchange region
Molecular and seasonal characteristics of organic vapors in urban Beijing: insights from Vocus-PTR measurements
The variations in volatile organic compounds based on the policy change for Omicron in the traffic hub of Zhengzhou
On the dynamics of ozone depletion events at Villum Research Station in the High Arctic
Measurement report: Long-term measurements of surface ozone and trends in semi-natural sub-Saharan African ecosystems
Characterization of biogenic volatile organic compounds and their oxidation products in a stressed spruce-dominated forest close to a biogas power plant
Reactive chlorine-, sulfur-, and nitrogen-containing volatile organic compounds impact atmospheric chemistry in the megacity of Delhi during both clean and extremely polluted seasons
Analysis of the day-to-day variability of ozone vertical profiles in the lower troposphere during the 2022 Paris ACROSS campaign
Significant influence of oxygenated volatile organic compounds on atmospheric chemistry analysis: A case study in a typical industrial city in China
Ozone deposition measurements over wheat fields in the North China Plain: variability and related factors of deposition flux and velocity
Consistency evaluation of tropospheric ozone from ozonesonde and IAGOS (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System) observations: vertical distribution, ozonesonde types, and station–airport distance
CO2 and CO temporal variability over Mexico City from ground-based total column and surface measurements
Investigating carbonyl compounds above the Amazon rainforest using a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS) with NO+ chemical ionization
Measurement report: In-flight and ground-based measurements of nitrogen oxide emissions from latest-generation jet engines and 100 % sustainable aviation fuel
Observation and modelling of atmospheric OH and HO2 radicals at a subtropical rural site and implications for secondary pollutants
Measurement report: Sources, sinks, and lifetime of NOx in a suburban temperate forest at night
Measurement report: Urban ammonia and amines in Houston, Texas
Biomass-burning sources control ambient particulate matter, but traffic and industrial sources control volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and secondary-pollutant formation during extreme pollution events in Delhi
Multi-year observations of variable incomplete combustion in the New York megacity
Observations of the vertical distributions of summertime atmospheric pollutants in Nam Co: OH production and source analysis
Measurement report: Elevated atmospheric ammonia may promote particle pH and HONO formation – insights from the COVID-19 pandemic
Measurement report: Vertical and temporal variability in the near-surface ozone production rate and sensitivity in an urban area in the Pearl River Delta region, China
Elevated oxidized mercury in the free troposphere: analytical advances and application at a remote continental mountaintop site
Using observed urban NOx sinks to constrain VOC reactivity and the ozone and radical budget in the Seoul Metropolitan Area
Real-world emission characteristics of VOCs from typical cargo ships and their potential contributions to secondary organic aerosol and O3 under low-sulfur fuel policies
Marvin Dufresne, Thérèse Salameh, Thierry Leonardis, Grégory Gille, Alexandre Armengaud, and Stéphane Sauvage
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5977–5999, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5977-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5977-2025, 2025
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This paper discusses the 18-month-long measurement of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) in Marseille, where there was no measurement since early 2000, despite the impact of NMHCs on air quality and climate. Traffic-related sources are the largest contributor to NMHC concentrations in Marseille, and shipping strongly contributes to the formation of aerosols. Finally, the Covid-19 lockdown had an impact on NMHC concentrations, reaching a 50 % decrease for traffic-related sources.
Simone T. Andersen, Rolf Sander, Patrick Dewald, Laura Wüst, Tobias Seubert, Gunther N. T. E. Türk, Jan Schuladen, Max R. McGillen, Chaoyang Xue, Abdelwahid Mellouki, Alexandre Kukui, Vincent Michoud, Manuela Cirtog, Mathieu Cazaunau, Astrid Bauville, Hichem Bouzidi, Paola Formenti, Cyrielle Denjean, Jean-Claude Etienne, Olivier Garrouste, Christopher Cantrell, Jos Lelieveld, and John N. Crowley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5893–5909, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5893-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5893-2025, 2025
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Measurements and modelling of reactive nitrogen gases observed in a suburban temperate forest in Rambouillet, France, circa 50 km southwest of Paris in 2022 indicate that the biosphere rapidly scavenges organic nitrates of mixed biogenic and anthropogenic origin, resulting in short lifetimes for, for example, alkyl nitrates and peroxy nitrates.
Pengfei Han, Ning Zeng, Bo Yao, Wen Zhang, Weijun Quan, Pucai Wang, Ting Wang, Minqiang Zhou, Qixiang Cai, Yuzhong Zhang, Ruosi Liang, Wanqi Sun, and Shengxiang Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4965–4988, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4965-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4965-2025, 2025
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Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas. Northern China contributes a large proportion of CH4 emissions, yet large observation gaps exist. Here we compiled a comprehensive dataset, which is publicly available, that includes ground-based, satellite-based, inventory, and modeling results to show the CH4 concentrations, enhancements, and spatial–temporal variations. The data can benefit the research community and policy-makers for future observations, atmospheric inversions, and policy-making.
Timur Cinay, Dickon Young, Nazaret Narváez Jimenez, Cristina Vintimilla-Palacios, Ariel Pila Alonso, Paul B. Krummel, William Vizuete, and Andrew R. Babbin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4703–4718, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4703-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4703-2025, 2025
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We present the initial 15 months of nitrous oxide measurements from the Galapagos Emissions Monitoring Station. The observed variability in atmospheric mole fractions during this period can be linked to several factors: seasonal variations in trade wind speed and direction across the eastern Pacific, differences in the transport history of air masses sampled, and spatiotemporal heterogeneity in regional marine nitrous oxide emissions from the coastal upwelling systems of Peru and Chile.
Petra Bauerová, Josef Keder, Adriana Šindelářová, Ondřej Vlček, William Patiño, Pavel Krč, Jan Geletič, Hynek Řezníček, Martin Bureš, Kryštof Eben, Michal Belda, Jelena Radović, Vladimír Fuka, Radek Jareš, Igor Esau, and Jaroslav Resler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4477–4504, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4477-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4477-2025, 2025
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The study explored urban air quality in Prague using low-cost sensors and highlighted the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) correction method's effectiveness in enhancing accuracy. Results showed traffic's impact on nitrogen dioxide levels and atmospheric dynamics on particulate matter. The research confirmed MARS-corrected sensors as cost-effective for monitoring, despite challenges like sensor ageing and data quality control.
Chunmeng Li, Xiaorui Chen, Haichao Wang, Tianyu Zhai, Xuefei Ma, Xinping Yang, Shiyi Chen, Min Zhou, Shengrong Lou, Xin Li, Limin Zeng, and Keding Lu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3905–3918, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3905-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3905-2025, 2025
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This study reports an observation of organic nitrate (including total peroxy nitrates and total alkyl nitrates) in Shanghai, China, during the summer of 2021, by homemade thermal dissociation cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (TD-CEAS; Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4033–4051, 2021). The distribution of organic nitrates and their effects on local ozone production are analyzed based on field observations in conjunction with model simulations.
Xudong Zheng and Shaodong Xie
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3807–3820, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3807-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3807-2025, 2025
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To reduce uncertainties in identifying the key volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ozone (O3) formation from ambient concentrations, this study comprehensively calculates the emitted VOC concentrations during both nighttime and daytime using the nitrate radical, O3, and hydroxyl radical reaction rates and ambient VOC concentrations. Based on the emitted concentrations, isoprene is one of the top three species contributing to O3 formation, which may be overlooked in observed concentrations.
Mingxue Li, Men Xia, Chunshui Lin, Yifan Jiang, Weihang Sun, Yurun Wang, Yingnan Zhang, Maoxia He, and Tao Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3753–3764, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3753-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3753-2025, 2025
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Our field campaigns observed a strong diel pattern of chloroacetic acid as well as a strong correlation between its level and that of reactive chlorine species at a coastal site. Using quantum chemical calculations and box model simulation with an updated Master Chemical Mechanism, we found that the formation pathway of chloroacetic acid involved multiphase processes. Our study enhances understanding of atmospheric organic chlorine chemistry and emphasizes the importance of multiphase reactions.
Can Ye, Pengfei Liu, Chaoyang Xue, Chenglong Zhang, Zhuobiao Ma, Chengtang Liu, Junfeng Liu, Keding Lu, Yujing Mu, and Yuanhang Zhang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-795, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-795, 2025
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This study investigates H2O2 chemistry in rural North China. The observed H2O2 showed distinct diurnal variations influenced by photochemical reactions. A box model revealed that H2O2 is primarily produced by HO2 recombination and removed mainly via particle uptake. Reductions in NOx, PM2.5, and alkanes raised H2O2 levels, while cutting alkenes, aromatics, CO, and HONO lowered them. A dual strategy focusing on VOCs and NOx control is essential to reduce both H2O2 and ozone pollution.
Renzhi Hu, Guoxian Zhang, Haotian Cai, Jingyi Guo, Keding Lu, Xin Li, Shengrong Lou, Zhaofeng Tan, Changjin Hu, Pinhua Xie, and Wenqing Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3011–3028, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3011-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3011-2025, 2025
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A full suite of radical measurements (OH, HO2, RO2, and kOH) was established to accurately elucidate the limitations of oxidation in a chemically complex atmosphere. Sensitivity tests revealed that the incorporation of complex processes enabled a balance in both radical concentrations and coordinate ratios, effectively addressing the deficiency in the ozone generation mechanism. The full-chain radical detection bridged the gap between the photochemistry and the intensive oxidation level.
Yanjie Lu, Xinxin Feng, Yanli Feng, Minjun Jiang, Yu Peng, Tian Chen, and Yingjun Chen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-131, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-131, 2025
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The EFs of CCs from biomass burning (BB) is an order of magnitude higher than that from on-road sources. Fuel type determines the emission characteristics and composition of CCs. The formation of CCs from solid and liquid fuel sources is respectively controlled by combustion temperature and emission standards. In addition, biomass burning and agricultural machinery sources significantly contribute to the oxidizing capacity of regional atmospheres.
Shuwen Guo, Xuan Zheng, Xiao He, Lewei Zeng, Liqiang He, Xian Wu, Yifei Dai, Zihao Huang, Ting Chen, Shupei Xiao, Yan You, Sheng Xiang, Shaojun Zhang, Jingkun Jiang, and Ye Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2695–2705, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2695-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2695-2025, 2025
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We considered two potential influencing factors of heavy-duty diesel vehicle emissions that are rarely mentioned in the literature: cumulative mileage and ambient temperatures. The results suggest that prolonged use of heavy-duty diesel vehicles and low ambient temperatures leads to reduced engine combustion efficiency, which in turn increases tailpipe emissions significantly.
Junling Li, Chaofan Lian, Mingyuan Liu, Hao Zhang, Yongxin Yan, Yufei Song, Chun Chen, Jiaqi Wang, Haijie Zhang, Yanqin Ren, Yucong Guo, Weigang Wang, Yisheng Xu, Hong Li, Jian Gao, and Maofa Ge
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2551–2568, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2551-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2551-2025, 2025
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As a key source of hydroxyl (OH) radical, nitrous acid (HONO) has attracted much attention for its important role in the atmospheric oxidant capacity (AOC) increase. In this study, we made a comparison of the ambient levels, variation patterns, sources, and formation pathway in the warm season on the basis of continuous intensive observations at an urban site of Beijing. This work highlights the importance of HONO for the AOC in the warm season.
Xiao-Bing Li, Bin Yuan, Yibo Huangfu, Suxia Yang, Xin Song, Jipeng Qi, Xianjun He, Sihang Wang, Yubin Chen, Qing Yang, Yongxin Song, Yuwen Peng, Guiqian Tang, Jian Gao, Dasa Gu, and Min Shao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2459–2472, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2459-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2459-2025, 2025
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Online vertical gradient measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone, and NOx were conducted based on a 325 m tall tower in urban Beijing. Vertical changes in the concentrations, compositions, key drivers, and environmental impacts of VOCs were analyzed in this study. We find that VOC species display differentiated vertical variation patterns and distinct roles in contributing to photochemical ozone formation with increasing height in the urban planetary boundary layer.
Shigeyuki Ishidoya, Satoshi Sugawara, and Atsushi Okazaki
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1965–1987, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1965-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1965-2025, 2025
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The 18O/16O ratio of atmospheric oxygen, δatm(18O), is higher than that of ocean water due to isotopic effects during biospheric activities. This is known as the Dole–Morita effect, and its millennial-scale variations are recorded in ice cores. However, small variations of δatm(18O) in the present day have never been detected so far. This paper presents the first observations of diurnal, seasonal, and secular variations in δatm(18O) and applies them to evaluate oxygen, carbon, and water cycles.
Delaney B. Kilgour, Christopher M. Jernigan, Olga Garmash, Sneha Aggarwal, Shengqian Zhou, Claudia Mohr, Matt E. Salter, Joel A. Thornton, Jian Wang, Paul Zieger, and Timothy H. Bertram
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1931–1947, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1931-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1931-2025, 2025
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We report simultaneous measurements of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and hydroperoxymethyl thioformate (HPMTF) in the eastern North Atlantic. We use an observationally constrained box model to show that cloud loss is the dominant sink of HPMTF in this region over 6 weeks, resulting in large reductions in DMS-derived products that contribute to aerosol formation and growth. Our findings indicate that fast cloud processing of HPMTF must be included in global models to accurately capture the sulfur cycle.
Jiemeng Bao, Xin Zhang, Zhenhai Wu, Li Zhou, Jun Qian, Qinwen Tan, Fumo Yang, Junhui Chen, Yunfeng Li, Hefan Liu, Liqun Deng, and Hong Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1899–1916, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1899-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1899-2025, 2025
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We studied carbonyl compounds' role in ozone pollution in the Chengdu Plain Urban Agglomeration, China. During heavy pollution in August 2019, we measured carbonyls at nine sites and analyzed their impact. Areas with higher carbonyl levels, like Chengdu, had worse ozone pollution. While their abundance matters, chemical reactions with other pollutants are the main drivers. Our findings show regional cooperation is vital to reducing ozone pollution effectively.
Masahito Ueyama, Taku Umezawa, Yukio Terao, Mark Lunt, and James Lawrence France
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3926, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3926, 2025
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Methane (CH4) emissions were measured in Megacity Osaka, Japan, using mobile and eddy covariance methods. The CH4 emissions were much higher than those reported in local inventories, with natural gas contributing up to 74 % of the emissions. Several CH4 sources not accounted for in current inventories were identified. These results emphasize the need for more comprehensive emissions tracking in urban areas to enhance climate change mitigation efforts.
Yaru Wang, Dominik van Pinxteren, Andreas Tilgner, Erik Hans Hoffmann, Max Hell, Susanne Bastian, and Hartmut Herrmann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4202, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4202, 2025
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Tropospheric ground-level ozone (O3) is a global air-quality pollutant and greenhouse gas. Long-term O3 trends from 16 stations in Saxony, Germany, were compared over three periods, revealing worsened O3 pollution over the last decade. O3 formation has been volatile organic compound (VOC)-limited at traffic and urban sites for the past 20 years. To mitigate O3 pollution, moderate nitrogen oxides and additional VOC controls, particularly in solvent use, should be prioritized in the coming years.
Baoye Hu, Naihua Chen, Rui Li, Mingqiang Huang, Jinsheng Chen, Youwei Hong, Lingling Xu, Xiaolong Fan, Mengren Li, Lei Tong, Qiuping Zheng, and Yuxiang Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 905–921, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-905-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-905-2025, 2025
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Box modeling with the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM) was used to explore summertime peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) formation and its link to aerosol pollution under high-ozone conditions. The MCM model is effective in the study of PAN photochemical formation and performed better during the clean period than the haze period. Machine learning analysis identified ammonia, nitrate, and fine particulate matter as the top three factors contributing to simulation bias.
Xiansheng Liu, Xun Zhang, Marvin Dufresne, Tao Wang, Lijie Wu, Rosa Lara, Roger Seco, Marta Monge, Ana Maria Yáñez-Serrano, Marie Gohy, Paul Petit, Audrey Chevalier, Marie-Pierre Vagnot, Yann Fortier, Alexia Baudic, Véronique Ghersi, Grégory Gille, Ludovic Lanzi, Valérie Gros, Leïla Simon, Heidi Héllen, Stefan Reimann, Zoé Le Bras, Michelle Jessy Müller, David Beddows, Siqi Hou, Zongbo Shi, Roy M. Harrison, William Bloss, James Dernie, Stéphane Sauvage, Philip K. Hopke, Xiaoli Duan, Taicheng An, Alastair C. Lewis, James R. Hopkins, Eleni Liakakou, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Xiaohu Zhang, Andrés Alastuey, Xavier Querol, and Thérèse Salameh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 625–638, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-625-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-625-2025, 2025
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This study examines BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes) pollution in urban areas across seven European countries. Analyzing data from 22 monitoring sites, we found traffic and industrial activities significantly impact BTEX levels, with peaks during rush hours. The risk from BTEX exposure remains moderate, especially in high-traffic and industrial zones, highlighting the need for targeted air quality management to protect public health and improve urban air quality.
Yuening Li, Faqiang Zhan, Chubashini Shunthirasingham, Ying Duan Lei, Jenny Oh, Amina Ben Chaaben, Zhe Lu, Kelsey Lee, Frank A. P. C. Gobas, Hayley Hung, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 459–472, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-459-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-459-2025, 2025
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Organophosphate esters are important humanmade trace contaminants. Measuring them in the atmospheric gas phase, particles, precipitation, and surface water in Canada, we explore seasonal concentration variability, gas–particle partitioning, precipitation scavenging, and the air–water equilibrium. Whereas higher summer concentrations and efficient precipitation scavenging conform with expectations, the lack of a relationship between compound volatility and gas–particle partitioning is puzzling.
Roeland Van Malderen, Anne M. Thompson, Debra E. Kollonige, Ryan M. Stauffer, Herman G. J. Smit, Eliane Maillard Barras, Corinne Vigouroux, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Thierry Leblanc, Valérie Thouret, Pawel Wolff, Peter Effertz, David W. Tarasick, Deniz Poyraz, Gérard Ancellet, Marie-Renée De Backer, Stéphanie Evan, Victoria Flood, Matthias M. Frey, James W. Hannigan, José L. Hernandez, Marco Iarlori, Bryan J. Johnson, Nicholas Jones, Rigel Kivi, Emmanuel Mahieu, Glen McConville, Katrin Müller, Tomoo Nagahama, Justus Notholt, Ankie Piters, Natalia Prats, Richard Querel, Dan Smale, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, Kimberly Strong, and Ralf Sussmann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3736, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3736, 2025
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Tropospheric ozone is an important greenhouse gas and is an air pollutant. The time variability of tropospheric ozone is mainly driven by anthropogenic emissions. In this paper, we study the distribution and time variability of ozone from harmonized ground-based observations from five different measurement techniques. Our findings will provide clear standard references for atmospheric models and evolving tropospheric ozone satellite data for the 2000–2022 period.
Markus Jesswein, Valentin Lauther, Nicolas Emig, Peter Hoor, Timo Keber, Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Linda Ort, Tanja Schuck, Johannes Strobel, Ronja Van Luijt, C. Michael Volk, Franziska Weyland, and Andreas Engel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3946, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3946, 2025
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The study investigates transport within the Asian Summer Monsoon, focussing on how CH2Cl2 reaches the subarctic tropopause region. Using data from the PHILEAS campaign in 2023, events with increased mixing ratios were detected. Their origin, the transport paths to the tropopause region and the potential entry into the stratosphere were analysed. The East Asian Summer Monsoon was identified as the main transport pathway, with only a small contribution to the stratosphere in the following days.
Fanhao Meng, Baobin Han, Min Qin, Wu Fang, Ke Tang, Dou Shao, Zhitang Liao, Jun Duan, Yan Feng, Yong Huang, Ting Ni, and Pinhua Xie
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 14191–14208, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14191-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14191-2024, 2024
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Comprehensive observations of HONO and NOx fluxes were conducted over paddy fields in the Huaihe River Basin. Consecutive peaks in HONO and NO fluxes suggest a potentially enhanced release of HONO and NO due to soil tillage, whereas waterlogged soil may inhibit microbial nitrification processes following irrigation. Notably, biological processes and light-driven NO2 reactions at the surface may serve as sources of HONO and influence the local HONO budget during rotary tillage.
Rodrigo J. Seguel, Charlie Opazo, Yann Cohen, Owen R. Cooper, Laura Gallardo, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Peter Hoor, and Susanne Rohs
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3719, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3719, 2024
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We explored differences in ozone levels between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in the Stratosphere-troposphere exchange region. Using unique data from a research aircraft, we found significantly lower ozone levels (with stratospheric character) in the Southern Hemisphere, especially during years of severe ozone depletion. A Sudden Stratospheric Warming event in 2019 increased Southern Hemisphere ozone levels, highlighting the relationship between atmospheric events and ozone distribution.
Zhaojin An, Rujing Yin, Xinyan Zhao, Xiaoxiao Li, Yuyang Li, Yi Yuan, Junchen Guo, Yiqi Zhao, Xue Li, Dandan Li, Yaowei Li, Dongbin Wang, Chao Yan, Kebin He, Douglas R. Worsnop, Frank N. Keutsch, and Jingkun Jiang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13793–13810, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13793-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13793-2024, 2024
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Online Vocus-PTR measurements show the compositions and seasonal variations in organic vapors in urban Beijing. With enhanced sensitivity and mass resolution, various species at a level of sub-parts per trillion (ppt) and organics with multiple oxygens (≥ 3) were observed. The fast photooxidation process in summer leads to an increase in both concentration and proportion of organics with multiple oxygens, while, in other seasons, the variations in them could be influenced by mixed sources.
Bowen Zhang, Dong Zhang, Zhe Dong, Xinshuai Song, Ruiqin Zhang, and Xiao Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13587–13601, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13587-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13587-2024, 2024
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To gain insight into the impact of changes due to epidemic control policies, we undertook continuous online monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at an urban site in Zhengzhou over a 2-month period. This study examines the characteristics of VOCs, their sources, and their temporal evolution. It also assesses the impact of the policy change on VOC pollution during the monitoring period, thus providing a basis for further research on VOC pollution and source control.
Jakob Boyd Pernov, Jens Liengaard Hjorth, Lise Lotte Sørensen, and Henrik Skov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13603–13631, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13603-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13603-2024, 2024
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Arctic ozone depletion events (ODEs) occur every spring and have vast implications for the oxidizing capacity, radiative balance, and mercury oxidation. In this study, we analyze ozone, ODEs, and their connection to meteorological and air mass history variables through statistical analyses, back trajectories, and machine learning (ML) at Villum Research Station. ODEs are favorable under sunny, calm conditions with air masses arriving from northerly wind directions with sea ice contact.
Hagninou Elagnon Venance Donnou, Aristide Barthélémy Akpo, Money Ossohou, Claire Delon, Véronique Yoboué, Dungall Laouali, Marie Ouafo-Leumbe, Pieter Gideon Van Zyl, Ousmane Ndiaye, Eric Gardrat, Maria Dias-Alves, and Corinne Galy-Lacaux
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13151–13182, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13151-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13151-2024, 2024
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Ozone is a secondary air pollutant that is detrimental to human and plant health. A better understanding of its chemical evolution is a challenge for Africa, where it is still undersampled. Out of 14 sites examined (1995–2020), high levels of O3 are reported in southern Africa. The dominant chemical processes leading to O3 formation are identified. A decrease in O3 is observed at Katibougou (Mali) and Banizoumbou (Niger), and an increase is found at Zoétélé (Cameroon) and Skukuza (South Africa).
Junwei Song, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Ralf Tillmann, Nicolas Brüggemann, Thomas Leisner, and Harald Saathoff
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13199–13217, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13199-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13199-2024, 2024
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Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) and organic aerosol (OA) particles were measured online in a stressed spruce-dominated forest. OA was mainly attributed to the monoterpene oxidation products. The mixing ratios of BVOCs were higher than the values previously measured in other temperate forests. The results demonstrate that BVOCs are influenced not only by meteorology and biogenic emissions but also by local anthropogenic emissions and subsequent chemical transformation processes.
Sachin Mishra, Vinayak Sinha, Haseeb Hakkim, Arpit Awasthi, Sachin D. Ghude, Vijay Kumar Soni, Narendra Nigam, Baerbel Sinha, and Madhavan N. Rajeevan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13129–13150, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13129-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13129-2024, 2024
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We quantified 111 gases using mass spectrometry to understand how seasonal and emission changes lead from clean air in the monsoon season to extremely polluted air in the post-monsoon season in Delhi. Averaged total mass concentrations (260 µg m-3) were > 4 times in polluted periods, driven by biomass burning emissions and reduced atmospheric ventilation. Reactive gaseous nitrogen, chlorine, and sulfur compounds hitherto unreported from such a polluted environment were discovered.
Gérard Ancellet, Camille Viatte, Anne Boynard, François Ravetta, Jacques Pelon, Cristelle Cailteau-Fischbach, Pascal Genau, Julie Capo, Axel Roy, and Philippe Nédélec
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12963–12983, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12963-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12963-2024, 2024
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Characterization of ozone pollution in urban areas benefited from a measurement campaign in summer 2022 in the Paris region. The analysis is based on 21 d of lidar and aircraft observations. The main objective is an analysis of the sensitivity of ozone pollution to the micrometeorological processes in the urban atmospheric boundary layer and the transport of regional pollution. The paper also discusses to what extent satellite observations can track observed ozone plumes.
Jingwen Dai, Kun Zhang, Yanli Feng, Xin Yi, Rui Li, Jin Xue, Qing Li, Lishu Shi, Jiaqiang Liao, Yanan Yi, Fangting Wang, Liumei Yang, Hui Chen, Ling Huang, Jiani Tan, Yangjun Wang, and Li Li
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3201, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3201, 2024
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Oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) are important ozone (O3) precursors. However, most of O3 formation analysis based on the box model (OBM) don't include OVOCs constraint To access the interference of OVOCs on O3 simulation, this study conducted field campaign and OBM analysis. The results indicates that no OVOCs constraint in the OBM can lead to overestimate of OVOCs, free radicals, and O3.
Xiaoyi Zhang, Wanyun Xu, Weili Lin, Gen Zhang, Jinjian Geng, Li Zhou, Huarong Zhao, Sanxue Ren, Guangsheng Zhou, Jianmin Chen, and Xiaobin Xu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12323–12340, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12323-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12323-2024, 2024
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Ozone (O3) deposition is a key process that removes surface O3, affecting air quality, ecosystems and climate change. We conducted O3 deposition measurement over a wheat canopy using a newly relaxed eddy accumulation flux system. Large variabilities in O3 deposition were detected, mainly determined by crop growth and modulated by various environmental factors. More O3 deposition observations over different surfaces are needed for exploring deposition mechanisms and model optimization.
Honglei Wang, David W. Tarasick, Jane Liu, Herman G. J. Smit, Roeland Van Malderen, Lijuan Shen, Romain Blot, and Tianliang Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11927–11942, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11927-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11927-2024, 2024
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In this study, we identify 23 suitable pairs of sites from World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre (WOUDC) and In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS) datasets (1995 to 2021), compare the average vertical distributions of tropospheric O3 from ozonesonde and aircraft measurements, and analyze the differences based on ozonesonde type and station–airport distance.
Noémie Taquet, Wolfgang Stremme, María Eugenia González del Castillo, Victor Almanza, Alejandro Bezanilla, Olivier Laurent, Carlos Alberti, Frank Hase, Michel Ramonet, Thomas Lauvaux, Ke Che, and Michel Grutter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11823–11848, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11823-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11823-2024, 2024
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We characterize the variability in CO and CO2 emissions over Mexico City from long-term time-resolved Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy solar absorption and surface measurements from 2013 to 2021. Using the average intraday CO growth rate from total columns, the average CO / CO2 ratio and TROPOMI data, we estimate the interannual variability in the CO and CO2 anthropogenic emissions of Mexico City, highlighting the effect of an unprecedented drop in activity due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Akima Ringsdorf, Achim Edtbauer, Bruna Holanda, Christopher Poehlker, Marta O. Sá, Alessandro Araújo, Jürgen Kesselmeier, Jos Lelieveld, and Jonathan Williams
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11883–11910, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11883-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11883-2024, 2024
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We show the average height distribution of separately observed aldehydes and ketones over a day and discuss their rainforest-specific sources and sinks as well as their seasonal changes above the Amazon. Ketones have much longer atmospheric lifetimes than aldehydes and thus different implications for atmospheric chemistry. However, they are commonly observed together, which we overcome by measuring with a NO+ chemical ionization mass spectrometer for the first time in the Amazon rainforest.
Theresa Harlass, Rebecca Dischl, Stefan Kaufmann, Raphael Märkl, Daniel Sauer, Monika Scheibe, Paul Stock, Tiziana Bräuer, Andreas Dörnbrack, Anke Roiger, Hans Schlager, Ulrich Schumann, Magdalena Pühl, Tobias Schripp, Tobias Grein, Linda Bondorf, Charles Renard, Maxime Gauthier, Mark Johnson, Darren Luff, Paul Madden, Peter Swann, Denise Ahrens, Reetu Sallinen, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11807–11822, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11807-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11807-2024, 2024
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Emissions from aircraft have a direct impact on our climate. Here, we present airborne and ground-based measurement data of nitrogen oxides that were collected in the exhaust of an Airbus aircraft. We study the impact of burning fossil and sustainable aviation fuel on nitrogen oxide emissions at different engine settings related to combustor temperature, pressure and fuel flow. Further, we compare observations with engine emission models.
Zhouxing Zou, Tianshu Chen, Qianjie Chen, Weihang Sun, Shichun Han, Zhuoyue Ren, Xinyi Li, Wei Song, Aoqi Ge, Qi Wang, Xiao Tian, Chenglei Pei, Xinming Wang, Yanli Zhang, and Tao Wang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3210, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3210, 2024
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We measured ambient OH and HO2 concentrations at a subtropical rural site and compared our observations with model results. During warm periods, the model overestimated the concentrations of OH and HO2, leading to overestimation of ozone and nitric acid production. Our findings highlight the need to better understand how OH and HO2are formed and removed, which is important for accurate air quality and climate predictions.
Simone T. Andersen, Max R. McGillen, Chaoyang Xue, Tobias Seubert, Patrick Dewald, Gunther N. T. E. Türk, Jan Schuladen, Cyrielle Denjean, Jean-Claude Etienne, Olivier Garrouste, Marina Jamar, Sergio Harb, Manuela Cirtog, Vincent Michoud, Mathieu Cazaunau, Antonin Bergé, Christopher Cantrell, Sebastien Dusanter, Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault, Alexandre Kukui, Abdelwahid Mellouki, Lucy J. Carpenter, Jos Lelieveld, and John N. Crowley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11603–11618, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11603-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11603-2024, 2024
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Using measurements of various trace gases in a suburban forest near Paris in the summer of 2022, we were able to gain insight into the sources and sinks of NOx (NO+NO2) with a special focus on their nighttime chemical and physical loss processes. NO was observed as a result of nighttime soil emissions when O3 levels were strongly depleted by deposition. NO oxidation products were not observed at night, indicating that soil and/or foliar surfaces are an efficient sink of reactive N.
Lee Tiszenkel, James H. Flynn, and Shan-Hu Lee
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11351–11363, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11351-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11351-2024, 2024
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Ammonia and amines are important ingredients for aerosol formation in urban environments, but the measurements of these compounds are extremely challenging. Our observations show that urban ammonia and amines in Houston are emitted from urban sources, and diurnal variations in their concentrations are likely governed by gas-to-particle conversion and emissions.
Arpit Awasthi, Baerbel Sinha, Haseeb Hakkim, Sachin Mishra, Varkrishna Mummidivarapu, Gurmanjot Singh, Sachin D. Ghude, Vijay Kumar Soni, Narendra Nigam, Vinayak Sinha, and Madhavan N. Rajeevan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10279–10304, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10279-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10279-2024, 2024
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We use 111 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PM10, and PM2.5 in a positive matrix factorization (PMF) model to resolve 11 pollution sources validated with chemical fingerprints. Crop residue burning and heating account for ~ 50 % of the PM, while traffic and industrial emissions dominate the gas-phase VOC burden and formation potential of secondary organic aerosols (> 60 %). Non-tailpipe emissions from compressed-natural-gas-fuelled commercial vehicles dominate the transport sector's PM burden.
Luke D. Schiferl, Cong Cao, Bronte Dalton, Andrew Hallward-Driemeier, Ricardo Toledo-Crow, and Róisín Commane
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10129–10142, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10129-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10129-2024, 2024
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Carbon monoxide (CO) is an air pollutant and an important indicator of the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels in cities. Using 4 years of winter and spring observations in New York City, we found that both the magnitude and variability of CO from the metropolitan area are greater than expected. Transportation emissions cannot explain the missing and variable CO, which points to energy from buildings as a likely underappreciated source of urban air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Chengzhi Xing, Cheng Liu, Chunxiang Ye, Jingkai Xue, Hongyu Wu, Xiangguang Ji, Jinping Ou, and Qihou Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10093–10112, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10093-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10093-2024, 2024
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We identified the contributions of ozone (O3) and nitrous acid (HONO) to the production rates of hydroxide (OH) in vertical space on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). A new insight was offered: the contributions of HONO and O3 to the production rates of OH on the TP are even greater than in lower-altitudes areas. This study enriches the understanding of vertical distribution of atmospheric components and explains the strong atmospheric oxidation capacity (AOC) on the TP.
Xinyuan Zhang, Lingling Wang, Nan Wang, Shuangliang Ma, Shenbo Wang, Ruiqin Zhang, Dong Zhang, Mingkai Wang, and Hongyu Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9885–9898, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9885-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9885-2024, 2024
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This study highlights the importance of the redox reaction of NO2 with SO2 based on actual atmospheric observations. The particle pH in future China is expected to rise steadily. Consequently, this reaction could become a significant source of HONO in China. Therefore, it is crucial to coordinate the control of SO2, NOx, and NH3 emissions to avoid a rapid increase in the particle pH.
Jun Zhou, Chunsheng Zhang, Aiming Liu, Bin Yuan, Yan Wang, Wenjie Wang, Jie-Ping Zhou, Yixin Hao, Xiao-Bing Li, Xianjun He, Xin Song, Yubin Chen, Suxia Yang, Shuchun Yang, Yanfeng Wu, Bin Jiang, Shan Huang, Junwen Liu, Yuwen Peng, Jipeng Qi, Minhui Deng, Bowen Zhong, Yibo Huangfu, and Min Shao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9805–9826, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9805-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9805-2024, 2024
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In-depth understanding of the near-ground vertical variability in photochemical ozone (O3) formation is crucial for mitigating O3 pollution. Utilizing a self-built vertical observation system, a direct net photochemical O3 production rate detection system, and an observation-based model, we diagnosed the vertical distributions and formation mechanism of net photochemical O3 production rates and sensitivity in the Pearl River Delta region, one of the most O3-polluted areas in China.
Eleanor J. Derry, Tyler R. Elgiar, Taylor Y. Wilmot, Nicholas W. Hoch, Noah S. Hirshorn, Peter Weiss-Penzias, Christopher F. Lee, John C. Lin, A. Gannet Hallar, Rainer Volkamer, Seth N. Lyman, and Lynne E. Gratz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9615–9643, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9615-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9615-2024, 2024
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Mercury (Hg) is a globally distributed neurotoxic pollutant. Atmospheric deposition is the main source of Hg in ecosystems. However, measurement biases hinder understanding of the origins and abundance of the more bioavailable oxidized form. We used an improved, calibrated measurement system to study air mass composition and transport of atmospheric Hg at a remote mountaintop site in the central US. Oxidized Hg originated upwind in the low to middle free troposphere under clean, dry conditions.
Benjamin A. Nault, Katherine R. Travis, James H. Crawford, Donald R. Blake, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Ronald C. Cohen, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Samuel R. Hall, L. Gregory Huey, Jose L. Jimenez, Kyung-Eun Min, Young Ro Lee, Isobel J. Simpson, Kirk Ullmann, and Armin Wisthaler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9573–9595, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9573-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9573-2024, 2024
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Ozone (O3) is a pollutant formed from the reactions of gases emitted from various sources. In urban areas, the density of human activities can increase the O3 formation rate (P(O3)), thus impacting air quality and health. Observations collected over Seoul, South Korea, are used to constrain P(O3). A high local P(O3) was found; however, local P(O3) was partly reduced due to compounds typically ignored. These observations also provide constraints for unmeasured compounds that will impact P(O3).
Fan Zhang, Binyu Xiao, Zeyu Liu, Yan Zhang, Chongguo Tian, Rui Li, Can Wu, Yali Lei, Si Zhang, Xinyi Wan, Yubao Chen, Yong Han, Min Cui, Cheng Huang, Hongli Wang, Yingjun Chen, and Gehui Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8999–9017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8999-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8999-2024, 2024
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Mandatory use of low-sulfur fuel due to global sulfur limit regulations means large uncertainties in volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. On-board tests of VOCs from nine cargo ships in China were carried out. Results showed that switching from heavy-fuel oil to diesel increased emission factor VOCs by 48 % on average, enhancing O3 and the secondary organic aerosol formation potential. Thus, implementing a global ultra-low-sulfur oil policy needs to be optimized in the near future.
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Short summary
We study the interhemispheric gradient of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), a strong long-lived greenhouse gas. Its emissions are stronger in the Northern Hemisphere; therefore, mixing ratios in the Southern Hemisphere lag behind. Comparing the observations to a box model, the model predicts air in the Southern Hemisphere to be older. For a better agreement, the emissions used as model input need to be increased (and their spatial pattern changed), and we need to modify north–south transport.
We study the interhemispheric gradient of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), a strong long-lived...
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