ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP Atmos. Chem. Phys. 1680-7324 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-9-4639-2009 BrO, blizzards, and drivers of polar tropospheric ozone depletion events Jones A. E. 1 Anderson P. S. 1 Begoin M. 2 Brough N. 1 Hutterli M. A. 1 Marshall G. J. 1 Richter A. 2 Roscoe H. K. 1 Wolff E. W. 1 British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany 17 07 2009 9 14 4639 4652 Copyright: © 2009 A. E. Jones et al. 2009 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/9/4639/2009/acp-9-4639-2009.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/9/4639/2009/acp-9-4639-2009.pdf

The source of bromine that drives polar boundary layer ozone depletion events (ODEs) is still open to some debate. While ODEs are generally noted to form under conditions of a shallow stable boundary layer, observations of depleted air under high wind conditions are taken as being transport-related. Here we report observations from Antarctica in which an unusually large cloud of BrO formed over the Weddell Sea. The enhanced BrO was observed over Halley station in coastal Antarctica, providing an opportunity to probe the conditions within an active "bromine explosion" event. On this occasion, enhanced BrO and depleted boundary layer ozone coincided with high wind speeds and saline blowing snow. We derive a simple model to consider the environmental conditions that favour ODEs and find two maxima, one at low wind/stable boundary layer and one at high wind speeds with blowing snow. Modelling calculations aiming to reproduce the wider regional or global impacts of ODEs, either via radiative effects or as a halogen source, will also need to account for high wind speed mechanisms.

 References Anderson, P. S. and Neff, W. D.: Boundary layer physics over snow and ice, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 7625–7677, 2007. Bovensmann, H., Burrows,&nbsp;J. P.,&nbsp; Buchwitz,&nbsp;M.,&nbsp;Frerick, J.,&nbsp;Noël, S., and&nbsp;Rozanov, V. V.: SCIAMACHY - Mission objectives and measurement modes, J. Atmos. Sci., 56(1), 127–150, 1999. Burrows, J. P., Weber, M., Buchwitz, M., Rozanov, V., Ladstätter-Wei{ß}enmayer, A., Richter, A., DeBeek, R., Hoogen, R., Bramstedt, K., Eichmann, K. -U., Eisinger, M., and Perner, D.: The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME): Mission concept and first scientific results, J. Atmos. Sci., 56, 151–175, 1999. Culf, A. D.: Acoustic Sounding of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer at Halley, Antarctica, Ant. Sci., 1, 363–372, 1989. Déry, S. J. and Taylor P. A.: Some aspects of the interaction of blowing snow with the atmospheric boundary layer, Hydrol. Proc., 10(7), 1345–1358, 1996. Draxler, R. R. and Rolph, G. D.: HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) Model access via NOAA ARL READY Website: <a href="http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/hysplit4.html">http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/hysplit4.html</a>, NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring, MD, USA, 2003. Fan, S.-M. and Jacob, D. J.: Surface ozone depletion in Arctic spring sustained by bromine reactions on aerosols, Nature, 359, 522–524, 1992. Foster, K. L., Plastridge, R. A., Bottenheim, J. W., Shepson, P. B., Finlayson-Pitts, B. J., and Spicer, C. W.: The role of Br2 and BrCl in surface ozone destruction at polar sunrise, Science, 291, 471–474, 2001. Frie{ß}, U., Hollwedel, J., Konig-Langlo, G., Wagner, T., and Platt U.: Dynamics and chemistry of tropospheric bromine explosion events in the Antarctic coastal region, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D06305, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD004133, 2004. Helmig, D., Oltmans, S., Carlson, D., Lamarque, J.-F., Jones, A. E., Labuschagne, C., Anlauf, K., and Hayden, K.: A review of surface ozone in the polar regions", Atmos. Env., 41, 5138–5161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.09.053, 2007. Hopper, J. F., Yokouchi, Y., Niki, H., Jobson, B. T., Shepson, P. B., and Muthurama, K.: Chemical and meteorological observations during ice camp SWAN during Polar Sunrise Experiment 1992, J. Geophys. Res., 99(D12), 25489–25498, 1994. Hopper, J. F., Barrie, L. A., Silis, A., Hart, W., Gallant, A. J., and Dryfhout, H.: Ozone and meteorology during the 1994 Polar Sunrise Experiment, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 1481–1492, 1998. Jacobi, H.-W., Kaleschke, L., Richter, A., Rozanov, A., and Burrows, J. P.: Observation of a fast ozone loss over frost flowers in the marginal ice zone of the Arctic Ocean, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D15309, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006715, 2006. Jones, A. E., Anderson, P. S., Wolff, E. W., Turner, J., Rankin, A. M., and Colwell, S. R.: A role for newly-forming sea ice in springtime polar tropospheric ozone loss? Observational evidence from Halley station, Antarctica, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D08306, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006566, 2006. Jones, A. E., Wolff, E. W., Salmon, R. A., Bauguitte, S. J. -B., Roscoe, H., K., Anderson, P. S., Ames, D., Clemitshaw, K. C., Fleming, Z. L., Bloss, W. J., Heard, D. E., Lee, J. D., Read, K. A., Hamer, P., Shallcross, D. E., Jackson, A., Walker, S., Lewis, A. C., Mills, G. P., Plane, J. M. C., Saiz-Lopez, A., Sturges, W. T., and Worton, D. R.: Chemistry of the Antarctic boundary layer and the interface with snow: An overview of the CHABLIS campaign, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 3789–3803,&nbsp;2008. Kaleschke, L., Richter, A., Burrows, J. P., Afe, O., Heygster, G., Notholt, J., Rankin, A. M., Roscoe, H. K., Hollwedel, J., Wagner, T., and Jacobi, H.-W.: Frost flowers on sea ice as a source of sea salt and their influence on tropospheric halogen chemistry, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L16114, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020655, 2004. King, J. C.: Validation of ECMWF sea level pressure analyses over the Bellingshausen Sea, Antarctica, Wea. and Forecasting, 18, 536-540, 2003. King, J. C. and Anderson, P. S.: Heat and Water-Vapor Fluxes and Scalar Roughness Lengths over an Antarctic Ice Shelf, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 69(1–2), 101–121, 1994. König-Langlo, G., King, J. C., and Pettré, P.: Climatology of the three coastal Antarcic stations Dumont d'Urville, Neumayer, and Halley, J. Geophys Res., 103, 10947–10959, 1998. Lee-Taylor, J. and Madronich, S.: Calculation of actinic fluxes with a coupled atmosphere-snow radiative transfer model, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D24), 4796, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002084, 2002. Lehrer, E., Hönninger, G., and Platt, U.: A one dimensional model study of the mechanism of halogen liberation and vertical transport in the polar troposphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 4, 2427–2440, 2004. Mann, G. W., Anderson, P. S., and Mobbs, S. D.: Profile measurements of blowing snow at Halley, Antarctica, J. Geophys. Res., 105(D19), 24491–24508, 2000. McConnell, J. C., Henderson, G. S., Barrie, L., Bottenheim, J., Niki, H., Langford, C. H., and Templeton, E. M. J.: Photochemical bromine production implicated in Arctic boundary-layer ozone depletion, Nature, 355, 150–152, 1992. Neff, W. D. and Coulter, R. L.: Acoustic Remote Sensing, in: Probing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer, edited by: Lenshow, D. H., Am. Meteorol. Soc., Boston, USA, 201–236, 1985. Neff, W., Helmig, D., Graches, A., and Davis, D.: A study of boundary layer behaviour associated with high NO concentrations at the South Pole using a minisodar, tethered balloon, and sonic anemometer, Atmos. Env., 42, 2762–2779, 2008. Rankin, A. M., Wolff, E. W., and Martin, S.: Frost flowers – implications for tropospheric chemistry and ice core interpretation, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D23), 4683, https://doi.org/4610.1029/2002JD002492, 2002. Renfrew, I. A., King, J. C., and Markus, T.: Coastal polynyas in the southern Weddell Sea: Variability of the surface energy budget, J. Geophys. Res., 107(C6), 3063, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JC000720, 2002. Richter, A., Wittrock, F., Eisinger, M., and Burrows, J. P.: GOME observations of tropospheric BrO in Northern Hemispheric spring and summer 1997, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 2683–2686, 1998. Richter, A., Wittrock, F., Ladstätter-Wei{ß}enmayer, A., and Burrows, J. P.: GOME measurements of stratospheric and tropospheric BrO, Adv. Space Res., 29(8), 1667–1672, 2002. Ridley, B. A., Atlas, E. L., Montzka, D. D., and 29 co-authors: Ozone depletion events observed in the high latitude surface layer during the TOPSE aircraft program, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D4), 8356, 2003. Rolph, G. D.: Real-time Environmental Applications and Display sYstem (READY) Website: <a href="http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/hysplit4.html">http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/hysplit4.html</a>, NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring, MD, USA, 2003. Simpson, W. R., von Glasow, R., Riedel, K., et al.: Halogens and their role in polar boundary layer ozone depletion, Atmos. Chem. Phys.,&nbsp;7,&nbsp;4375–4418,&nbsp;2007. Simpson, W. R., Carlson, D., Hönninger, G., Douglas, T. A., Sturm, M., Perovich, D., and Platt, U.: First-year sea-ice contact predicts bromine monoxide (BrO) levels at Barrow, Alaska better than potential frost flower contact, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 621–627, 2007. Spreen, G., Kaleschke, L., and Heygster, G.: Sea ice remote sensing using AMSR-E 89 GHz channels, J. Geophys. Res., 113, C02S03, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JC003384, 2008. Tang, T. and McConnell, J. C.: Autocatalytic release of bromine from Arctic snow pack during polar sunrise, Geophys. Res. Lett., 23, 2633–2636, 1996. Uppala, S. M., Kaallberg, P. W., Simmonds, A. J., and 42 co-authors: The ERA-40 re-analysis. QJRMS, 131(612), 2961–3012, 2005. Vogt, R., Crutzen, P. J., and Sander, R.: A mechanism for halogen release from sea-salt aerosol in the remote marine boundary layer, Nature, 383, 327–330, 1996. Wadhams, P.: Ice in the Ocean, Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, London, UK, 351 pp., 2002. Wessel, S., Aoki, S., Winkler, P., Weller, R., Herber, A., Gernandt, H., and Schrems, O.: Tropospheric ozone depletion in polar regions: A comparison of observations in the Arctic and Antarctic, Tellus B, 50, 34–50, 1998. Wagner, T. and Platt, U.: Satellite mapping of enhanced BrO concentrations in the troposphere, Nature, 395, 486–490, 1998. Wagner, T., Leue, C., Wenig, M., Pfeilsticker, K., and Platt, U.: Spatial and temporal distribution of enhanced boundary layer BrO concentrations measured by the GOME instrument aboard ERS-2, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 24225–24235, 2001. Wolff, E., Jones, A. E., Bauguitte, S., and Salmon, R.: The interpretation of spikes and trends in concentration of nitrate in polar ice cores, based on evidence from snow and atmospheric measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 5627–5634, 2008. Yang, X., Pyle, J. A., and Cox, R. A.: Sea salt aerosol production and bromine release: Role of snow on sea ice, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L16815, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL034536, 2008. Zilitinkevich, S. and Mironov, D. V.: A multi-limit formulation for the equilibrium depth of a stably stratified boundary layer, Bound.-Lay. Meterol., 81(3–4), 325–351, 1996.