Analysis of the impact of biomass burning emissions on global ozone production in the upper troposphere with MOCAGE CTM and IAGOS airborne data.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Cussac ◽  
Virginie Marécal ◽  
Valérie Thouret ◽  
Béatrice Josse
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Ozone Production ◽  
In Situ Observation ◽  
Transport Pathway ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
The Impact

<p>The UTLS (Upper Troposphere/Lower Stratosphere) is a key layer of the atmosphere as its chemical composition impacts both the troposphere and the stratosphere, and therefore plays a significant role in the climate system. Ozone at this altitude for instance plays a great role on surface temperature. Unlike in the stratosphere; it can be produced from the photolysis of precursors originating in the troposphere; mainly nitrous oxides (NO<sub>x</sub>) and carbon monoxide (CO) at this pressure range. Biomass burning emissions in particular are likely to play a significant role in the quantities of these species in the upper troposphere and thus impacting ozone balance. This effect is investigated thanks to the global chemistry transport model MOCAGE. Because of the strong vertical gradients in this layer of the atmosphere, well resolved in-situ observation dataset are valuable for model evaluation. As of measurements used to validate MOCAGE results, IAGOS in-situ measurements from equipped commercial aircraft were chosen for their fine vertical resolution as well as their wide geographical coverage. Using both of these tools, upper tropospheric air composition is studied, with a focus on ozone precursors and production linked to biomass burning emissions.</p><p>Firstly is investigated the direct impact of biomass burning emissions on CO concentration in the upper troposphere, as it is both a good tracer of wildfire plumes in the atmosphere and it plays a role in the upper troposphere chemical balance. For this purpose MOCAGE simulations spaning over the year of 2013 where biomass burning emissions were turned on and off are compared to estimate a contribution to upper tropospheric CO. These simulations were validated using all the available data from the IAGOS database. It was found that biomass burning impacted CO levels globally, with the strongest enhancement happening above the most emitting areas (equatorial Africa and the Boreal forests). The importance of a fast vertical transport pathway above the fires was also highlighted with the possible occurrence of pyroconvection in addition to deep convection. Secondly, other chemical species related to ozone production were looked upon. Peroxyacetyl Nitrates (PAN) for instance were found to be impacted by biomass burning as it is a product of NOx oxidation as well as the main "reservoir" specie for NOx in the upper troposphere. Ultimately, ozone production resulting from biomass burning emissions is investigated, both in biomass burning plumes encountered by IAGOS aircraft, and on a more global scale using the MOCAGE simulations.</p>

scholarly journals Reactive nitrogen, ozone and ozone production in the Arctic troposphere and the impact of stratosphere-troposphere exchange

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 13181-13199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Liang ◽  
J. M. Rodriguez ◽  
A. R. Douglass ◽  
J. H. Crawford ◽  
J. R. Olson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Ozone Production ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Subsequent Formation ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. We use aircraft observations obtained during the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) mission to examine the distributions and source attributions of O3 and NOy in the Arctic and sub-Arctic region. Using a number of marker tracers, we distinguish various air masses from the background troposphere and examine their contributions to NOx, O3, and O3 production in the Arctic troposphere. The background Arctic troposphere has a mean O3 of ~60 ppbv and NOx of ~25 pptv throughout spring and summer with CO decreasing from ~145 ppbv in spring to ~100 ppbv in summer. These observed mixing ratios are not notably different from the values measured during the 1988 ABLE-3A and the 2002 TOPSE field campaigns despite the significant changes in emissions and stratospheric ozone layer in the past two decades that influence Arctic tropospheric composition. Air masses associated with stratosphere-troposphere exchange are present throughout the mid and upper troposphere during spring and summer. These air masses, with mean O3 concentrations of 140–160 ppbv, are significant direct sources of O3 in the Arctic troposphere. In addition, air of stratospheric origin displays net O3 formation in the Arctic due to its sustainable, high NOx (75 pptv in spring and 110 pptv in summer) and NOy (~800 pptv in spring and ~1100 pptv in summer). The air masses influenced by the stratosphere sampled during ARCTAS-B also show conversion of HNO3 to PAN. This active production of PAN is the result of increased degradation of ethane in the stratosphere-troposphere mixed air mass to form CH3CHO, followed by subsequent formation of PAN under high NOx conditions. These findings imply that an adequate representation of stratospheric NOy input, in addition to stratospheric O3 influx, is essential to accurately simulate tropospheric Arctic O3, NOx and PAN in chemistry transport models. Plumes influenced by recent anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions observed during ARCTAS show highly elevated levels of hydrocarbons and NOy (mostly in the form of NOx and PAN), but do not contain O3 higher than that in the Arctic tropospheric background except some aged biomass burning plumes sampled during spring. Convection and/or lightning influences are negligible sources of O3 in the Arctic troposphere but can have significant impacts in the upper troposphere in the continental sub-Arctic during summer.

scholarly journals Remote sensed and in situ constraints on processes affecting tropical tropospheric ozone

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 11465-11520 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Sauvage ◽  
R. V. Martin ◽  
A. van Donkelaar ◽  
X. Liu ◽  
K. Chance ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Tropospheric Ozone ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
In Situ Observations ◽  
Tropospheric O3

Abstract. We use a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to evaluate the consistency of satellite measurements of lightning flashes and ozone precursors with in situ measurements of tropical tropospheric ozone. The measurements are tropospheric O3, NO2, and HCHO columns from the GOME satellite instrument, lightning flashes from the OTD and LIS instruments, profiles of O3, CO, and relative humidity from the MOZAIC aircraft program, and profiles of O3 from the SHADOZ ozonesonde network. We interpret these multiple data sources with our model to better understand what controls tropical tropospheric ozone. Tropical tropospheric ozone is mainly affected by lightning and convection in the upper troposphere and by surface emissions in the lower troposphere. Scaling the spatial distribution of lightning in the model to the observed flash counts improves the simulation of O3 in the upper troposphere by 5–20 ppbv versus in situ observations and by 1–4 Dobson Units versus GOME retrievals of tropospheric O3 columns. A lightning source strength of 5±2 Tg N/yr best represents in situ observations from aircraft and ozonesonde. Tropospheric NO2 and HCHO columns from GOME are applied to provide top-down constraints on emission inventories of NOx (biomass burning and soils) and VOCs (biomass burning). The top-down biomass burning inventory is larger by a factor of 2 for HCHO and alkenes, and by 2.6 for NOx over northern equatorial Africa. These emissions increase lower tropospheric O3 by 5–20 ppbv, improving the simulation versus aircraft observations, and by 4 Dobson Units versus GOME observations of tropospheric O3 columns. Emission factors in the a posteriori inventory are more consistent with a recent compilation from in situ measurements. The ozone simulation using two different dynamical schemes (GEOS-3 and GEOS-4) is evaluated versus observations; GEOS-4 better represents O3 observations by 5–15 ppbv due to enhanced convective detrainment in the upper troposphere. Heterogeneous uptake of HNO3 on aerosols reduces simulated O3 by 5–7 ppbv, reducing a model bias versus in situ observations over and downwind of deserts. Exclusion of HO2 uptake on aerosols improves O3 by 5 ppbv in biomass burning regions.

scholarly journals Reactive nitrogen, ozone and ozone production in the Arctic troposphere and the impact of stratosphere-troposphere exchange

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 10721-10767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Liang ◽  
J. M. Rodriguez ◽  
A. R. Douglass ◽  
J. H. Crawford ◽  
E. Apel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Tropospheric Chemistry ◽  
Ozone Production ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Source Attribution ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. We analyze the aircraft observations obtained during the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellite (ARCTAS) mission together with the GEOS-5 CO simulation to examine O3 and NOy in the Arctic and sub-Arctic region and their source attribution. Using a number of marker tracers and their probability density distributions, we distinguish various air masses from the background troposphere and examine their contribution to NOx, O3, and O3 production in the Arctic troposphere. The background Arctic troposphere has mean O3 of ~60 ppbv and NOx of ~25 pptv throughout spring and summer with CO decreases from ~145 ppbv in spring to ~100 ppbv in summer. These observed CO, NOx and O3 mixing ratios are not notably different from the values measured during the 1988 ABLE-3A and the 2002 TOPSE field campaigns despite the significant changes in the past two decades in processes that could have changed the Arctic tropospheric composition. Air masses associated with stratosphere-troposphere exchange are present throughout the mid and upper troposphere during spring and summer. These air masses with mean O3 concentration of 140–160 ppbv are the most important direct sources of O3 in the Arctic troposphere. In addition, air of stratospheric origin is the only notable driver of net O3 formation in the Arctic due to its sustainable high NOx (75 pptv in spring and 110 pptv in summer) and NOy (~800 pptv in spring and ~1100 pptv in summer) levels. The ARCTAS measurements present observational evidence suggesting significant conversion of nitrogen from HNO3 to NOx and then to PAN (a net formation of ~120 pptv PAN) in summer when air of stratospheric origin is mixed with tropospheric background during stratosphere-to-troposphere transport. These findings imply that an adequate representation of stratospheric O3 and NOy input are essential in accurately simulating O3 and NOx photochemistry as well as the atmospheric budget of PAN in tropospheric chemistry transport models of the Arctic. Anthropogenic and biomass burning pollution plumes observed during ARCTAS show highly elevated hydrocarbons and NOy (mostly in the form of NOx and PAN), but do not contribute significantly to O3 in the Arctic troposphere except in some of the aged biomass burning plumes sampled during spring. Convection and/or lightning influences are negligible sources of O3 in the Arctic troposphere but can have significant impacts in the upper troposphere in the continental sub-Arctic during summer.

scholarly journals Cross-hemispheric transport of central African biomass burning pollutants: implications for downwind ozone production

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 3027-3046 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Real ◽  
E. Orlandi ◽  
K. S. Law ◽  
F. Fierli ◽  
D. Josset ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Mesoscale Model ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Ozone Production ◽  
Production Rates ◽  
Model Simulations ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Pollutant plumes with enhanced concentrations of trace gases and aerosols were observed over the southern coast of West Africa during August 2006 as part of the AMMA wet season field campaign. Plumes were observed both in the mid and upper troposphere. In this study we examined the origin of these pollutant plumes, and their potential to photochemically produce ozone (O3) downwind over the Atlantic Ocean. Their possible contribution to the Atlantic O3 maximum is also discussed. Runs using the BOLAM mesoscale model including biomass burning carbon monoxide (CO) tracers were used to confirm an origin from central African biomass burning fires. The plumes measured in the mid troposphere (MT) had significantly higher pollutant concentrations over West Africa compared to the upper tropospheric (UT) plume. The mesoscale model reproduces these differences and the two different pathways for the plumes at different altitudes: transport to the north-east of the fire region, moist convective uplift and transport to West Africa for the upper tropospheric plume versus north-west transport over the Gulf of Guinea for the mid-tropospheric plume. Lower concentrations in the upper troposphere are mainly due to enhanced mixing during upward transport. Model simulations suggest that MT and UT plumes are 16 and 14 days old respectively when measured over West Africa. The ratio of tracer concentrations at 600 hPa and 250 hPa was estimated for 14–15 August in the region of the observed plumes and compares well with the same ratio derived from observed carbon dioxide (CO2) enhancements in both plumes. It is estimated that, for the period 1–15 August, the ratio of Biomass Burning (BB) tracer concentration transported in the UT to the ones transported in the MT is 0.6 over West Africa and the equatorial South Atlantic. Runs using a photochemical trajectory model, CiTTyCAT, initialized with the observations, were used to estimate in-situ net photochemical O3 production rates in these plumes during transport downwind of West Africa. The mid-troposphere plume spreads over altitude between 1.5 and 6 km over the Atlantic Ocean. Even though the plume was old, it was still very photochemically active (mean net O3 production rates over 10 days of 2.6 ppbv/day and up to 7 ppbv/day during the first days) above 3 km especially during the first few days of transport westward. It is also shown that the impact of high aerosol loads in the MT plume on photolysis rates serves to delay the peak in modelled O3 concentrations. These results suggest that a significant fraction of enhanced O3 in mid-troposphere over the Atlantic comes from BB sources during the summer monsoon period. According to simulated occurrence of such transport, BB may be the main source for O3 enhancement in the equatorial south Atlantic MT, at least in August 2006. The upper tropospheric plume was also still photochemically active, although mean net O3 production rates were slower (1.3 ppbv/day). The results suggest that, whilst the transport of BB pollutants to the UT is variable (as shown by the mesoscale model simulations), pollution from biomass burning can make an important contribution to additional photochemical production of O3 in addition to other important sources such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) from lightning.

scholarly journals The impact of biomass burning on upper tropospheric carbon monoxide: A study using MOCAGE global model and IAGOS airborne data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Cussac ◽  
Virginie Marécal ◽  
Valérie Thouret ◽  
Béatrice Josse ◽  
Bastien Sauvage
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
High Latitudes ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Airborne Measurements ◽  
Fire Plumes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In this paper the fate of biomass burning emissions of carbon monoxide is studied with the global chemistry transport model MOCAGE and IAGOS airborne measurements for the year of 2013. The objectives are firstly to improve their representation within the model and secondly to analyse their contribution to carbon monoxide concentrations in the upper troposphere. At first, a new implementation of biomass burning injection is developed for MOCAGE, using the latest products available in GFAS biomass burning inventory on plume altitude and injection height. This method is validated against IAGOS observations of CO made in fire plumes, identified thanks to the SOFT-IO source attribution data. The use of these GFAS products lead to improved MOCAGE skill to simulate fire plumes originating from boreal forests wildfires. It was also shown that this new biomass burning injection method did not change upper tropospheric carbon monoxide concentrations elsewhere on the globe as the previous one was already satisfying. Then, MOCAGE performances were evaluated in general in the upper troposphere in comparison to the IAGOS database, and were shown to be very good, with very little bias and good correlations between the model and the observations. Finally, we analyse the contribution of biomass burning to upper tropospheric carbon monoxide concentrations. This was done by comparing simulations were biomass were toggled on and off in different source regions of the world to assess their individual influence. The two regions contributing the most to upper tropospheric CO were found to be the boreal forests and equatorial Africa, in accordance with the quantities of CO they emit each year and the fact that they undergo fast vertical transport: deep convection in the tropics and pyroconvection at high latitudes. It was found that biomass burning contributes for more than 11 % on average on the CO concentrations in the upper troposphere, and up to 50 % at high latitudes during the wildfire season.

scholarly journals The impact of biomass burning on upper tropospheric carbon monoxide: a study using MOCAGE global model and IAGOS airborne data

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (15) ◽  
pp. 9393-9417
Author(s):  
Martin Cussac ◽  
Virginie Marécal ◽  
Valérie Thouret ◽  
Béatrice Josse ◽  
Bastien Sauvage
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
High Latitudes ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Airborne Measurements ◽  
Fire Plumes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In this paper, the fate of biomass burning emissions of carbon monoxide is studied with the global chemistry–transport model MOCAGE (MOdélisation de Chimie Atmosphérique à Grande Échelle) and IAGOS (In-Service Aircraft for a Global Observing System) airborne measurements for the year 2013. The objectives are firstly to improve their representation within the model and secondly to analyse their contribution to carbon monoxide concentrations in the upper troposphere. At first, a new implementation of biomass burning injection is developed for MOCAGE, using the latest products available in Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) biomass burning inventory on plume altitude and injection height. This method is validated against IAGOS observations of CO made in fire plumes, identified thanks to the SOFT-IO source attribution data. The use of these GFAS products leads to improved MOCAGE skill to simulate fire plumes originating from boreal forest wildfires. It is also shown that this new biomass burning injection method modifies the distribution of carbon monoxide in the free and upper troposphere, mostly at northern boreal latitudes. Then, MOCAGE performance is evaluated in general in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere in comparison to the IAGOS observations and is shown to be very good, with very low bias and good correlations between the model and the observations. Finally, we analyse the contribution of biomass burning to upper tropospheric carbon monoxide concentrations. This is done by comparing simulations where biomass are toggled on and off in different source regions of the world to assess their individual influence. The two regions contributing the most to upper tropospheric CO are found to be the boreal forests and equatorial Africa, in accordance with the quantities of CO they emit each year and the fact that they undergo fast vertical transport: deep convection in the tropics and pyroconvection at high latitudes. It is also found that biomass burning contributes more than 11 % on average to the CO concentrations in the upper troposphere and up to 50 % at high latitudes during the wildfire season.

The measurement of groundwater temperature in shallow piezometers and standpipes

2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1377-1390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D Alexander ◽  
Kerry TB MacQuarrie
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Subsurface Temperature ◽  
Groundwater Temperature ◽  
Monitoring Well ◽  
Laboratory Results ◽  
The Impact

Accurate measurements of in situ groundwater temperature are important in many groundwater investigations. Temperature is often measured in the subsurface using an access tube in the form of a piezometer or monitoring well. The impact of standpipe materials on the conduction of heat into the subsurface has not previously been examined. This paper reports on the results of a laboratory experiment and a field experiment designed to determine if different standpipe materials or monitoring instrument configurations preferentially conduct heat into the shallow sub surface. Simulations with a numerical model were also conducted for comparison to the laboratory results. Statistical analysis of the laboratory results demonstrates that common standpipe materials, such as steel and polyvinylchloride (PVC), do not affect temperature in the subsurface. Simulations with a finite element flow and heat transport model also confirm that the presence of access tube materials does not affect shallow groundwater temperature measurements. Field results show that different instrument configurations, such as piezometers and water and air filled and sealed well points, do not affect subsurface temperature measurements.Key words: groundwater temperature, temperature measurement, conduction, piezometers, piezometer standpipes, thermal modelling.

scholarly journals Horizontally Oriented Plates in Clouds

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (23) ◽  
pp. 2888-2898 ◽  
Author(s):  
François-Marie Bréon ◽  
Bérengère Dubrulle
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Turbulence ◽  
Tilt Angle ◽  
Signal Amplitude ◽  
In Situ Observation ◽  
Horizontal Plate ◽  
Specular Reflectance ◽  
Aerodynamic Model ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Horizontally oriented plates in clouds generate a sharp specular reflectance signal in the glint direction, often referred to as “subsun.” This signal (amplitude and width) may be used to analyze the relative area fraction of oriented plates in the cloud-top layer and their characteristic tilt angle to the horizontal. Use is made of spaceborne measurements from the Polarization and Directionality of the Earth Reflectances (POLDER) instrument to provide a statistical analysis of these parameters. More than half of the clouds show a detectable maximum reflectance in the glint direction, although this maximum may be rather faint. The typical effective fraction (area weighted) of oriented plates in clouds lies between 10−3 and 10−2. For those oriented plates, the characteristic tilt angle is less than 1° in most cases. These low fractions imply that the impact of oriented plates on the cloud albedo is insignificant. The largest proportion of clouds with horizontally oriented plates is found in the range 500– 700 hPa, in agreement with typical in situ observation of plates in clouds. A simple aerodynamic model is proposed that accounts for the orienting torque of the flow as the plate falls under its own gravity and the disorienting effects of Brownian motion and atmospheric turbulence. The model indicates that the horizontal plate diameters are in the range 0.1 to a few millimeters. For such sizes, Brownian forces have a negligible impact on the plate orientation. On the other hand, typical levels of atmospheric turbulence lead to tilt angles that are similar to those estimated from the glint observation.

scholarly journals Modeling the regional impact of ship emissions on NO<sub>x</sub> and ozone levels over the Eastern Atlantic and Western Europe using ship plume parameterization

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (14) ◽  
pp. 6645-6660 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Huszar ◽  
D. Cariolle ◽  
R. Paoli ◽  
T. Halenka ◽  
M. Belda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Surface Ozone ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Nitrogen Monoxide ◽  
Ozone Production ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Ship Emissions ◽  
Concentrated Source ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In general, regional and global chemistry transport models apply instantaneous mixing of emissions into the model's finest resolved scale. In case of a concentrated source, this could result in erroneous calculation of the evolution of both primary and secondary chemical species. Several studies discussed this issue in connection with emissions from ships and aircraft. In this study, we present an approach to deal with the non-linear effects during dispersion of NOx emissions from ships. It represents an adaptation of the original approach developed for aircraft NOx emissions, which uses an exhaust tracer to trace the amount of the emitted species in the plume and applies an effective reaction rate for the ozone production/destruction during the plume's dilution into the background air. In accordance with previous studies examining the impact of international shipping on the composition of the troposphere, we found that the contribution of ship induced surface NOx to the total reaches 90% over remote ocean and makes 10–30% near coastal regions. Due to ship emissions, surface ozone increases by up to 4–6 ppbv making 10% contribution to the surface ozone budget. When applying the ship plume parameterization, we show that the large scale NOx decreases and the ship NOx contribution is reduced by up to 20–25%. A similar decrease was found in the case of O3. The plume parameterization suppressed the ship induced ozone production by 15–30% over large areas of the studied region. To evaluate the presented parameterization, nitrogen monoxide measurements over the English Channel were compared with modeled values and it was found that after activating the parameterization the model accuracy increases.

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