Asymmetry and pathways of inter-hemispheric transport in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere

Abstract. Inter-hemispheric transport may strongly affect the trace gas composition of the atmosphere, especially in relation to anthropogenic emissions which originate mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. This study investigates the transport from the boundary surface layer of the Northern Hemispheric (NH) extratropics (30–90° N), Southern Hemispheric (SH) extratropics (30–90° S), and tropics (30° S–30° N) into the global upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) using simulations with the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS). In particular, we diagnose inter-hemispheric transport in terms of the air mass fractions (AMF), age spectra, and the mean age of air (AoA) calculated for these three source regions. We find that the AMFs from the NH extratropics to the UTLS are about five times larger than the corresponding contributions from the SH extratropics and almost twenty times smaller than those from the tropics. The amplitude of the AMF seasonal variability originating from the NH extratropics is comparable to that from the tropics. The NH and SH extratropics age spectra show much stronger seasonality compared to the seasonality of the tropical age spectra. The transit time of NH extratropical origin air to the SH extratropics is longer than vice versa. The asymmetry of the inter-hemispheric transport is mainly driven by the Asian summer monsoon (ASM). Both ASM and westerly ducts affect the cross hemispheric transport of the NH extratropical air to the SH, and it is an interplay between the ASM and westerly ducts which triggers such cross-equator transport from boreal summer to fall, mainly westerly ducts over the eastern Atlantic.