Seasonal cycle of averages of nitrous oxide and ozone in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere polar, midlatitude, and tropical regions derived from ILAS/ILAS-II and Odin/SMR observations

Abstract. Seasonal cycles in the mixing ratios of tropospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) are derived by detrending long-term measurements made at sites across four global surface monitoring networks. The detrended monthly data display large interannual variability, which at some sites challenges the concept of a "mean" seasonal cycle. In the Northern Hemisphere, correlations between polar winter lower stratospheric temperature and detrended N2O data, around the month of the seasonal minimum, provide empirical evidence for a stratospheric influence, which varies in strength from year to year and can explain much of the interannual variability in the surface seasonal cycle. Even at sites where a strong, competing, regional N2O source exists, such as from coastal upwelling at Trinidad Head, California, the stratospheric influence must be understood to interpret the biogeochemical signal in monthly mean data. In the Southern Hemisphere, detrended surface N2O monthly means are correlated with polar spring lower stratospheric temperature in months preceding the N2O minimum, providing empirical evidence for a coherent stratospheric influence in that hemisphere as well, in contrast to some recent atmospheric chemical transport model (ACTM) results. Correlations between the phasing of the surface N2O seasonal cycle in both hemispheres and both polar lower stratospheric temperature and polar vortex break-up date provide additional support for a stratospheric influence. The correlations discussed above are generally more evident in high-frequency in situ data than in data from weekly flask samples. Furthermore, the interannual variability in the N2O seasonal cycle is not always correlated among in situ and flask networks that share common sites, nor do the mean seasonal amplitudes always agree. The importance of abiotic influences such as the stratospheric influx and tropospheric transport on N2O seasonal cycles suggests that, at sites remote from local sources, surface N2O mixing ratio data by themselves are unlikely to provide information about seasonality in surface sources, e.g., for atmospheric inversions, unless the ACTMs employed in the inversions accurately account for these influences. An additional abioitc influence is the seasonal ingassing and outgassing of cooling and warming surface waters, which creates a thermal signal in tropospheric N2O that is of particular importance in the extratropical Southern Hemisphere, where it competes with the biological ocean source signal.

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Abiotic and biogeochemical signals derived from the seasonal cycles of tropospheric nitrous oxide

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-10-25803-2010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 25803-25839

Author(s):

C. D. Nevison ◽

E. Dlugokencky ◽

G. Dutton ◽

J. W. Elkins ◽

P. Fraser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nitrous Oxide ◽

Interannual Variability ◽

Southern Hemisphere ◽

Northern Hemisphere ◽

Seasonal Cycle ◽

Coastal Upwelling ◽

Seasonal Cycles ◽

Mixing Ratios ◽

Stratospheric Temperature ◽

Deep Ocean Water

Abstract. Seasonal cycles in the mixing ratios of tropospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) are derived by detrending long-term measurements made at sites across four global surface monitoring networks. These cycles are examined for physical and biogeochemical signals. The detrended monthly data display large interannual variability, which at some sites challenges the concept of a "mean" seasonal cycle. The interannual variability in the seasonal cycle is not always correlated among networks that share common sites. In the Northern Hemisphere, correlations between detrended N2O seasonal minima and polar winter lower stratospheric temperature provide compelling evidence for a stratospheric influence, which varies in strength from year to year and can explain much of the interannual variability in the surface seasonal cycle. Even at sites where a strong, competing, regional N2O source exists, such as from coastal upwelling at Trinidad Head, California, the stratospheric influence must be understood in order to interpret the biogeochemical signal in monthly mean data. In the Southern Hemisphere, detrended surface N2O monthly means are correlated with polar lower stratospheric temperature in months preceding the N2O minimum, suggesting a coherent stratospheric influence in that hemisphere as well. A decomposition of the N2O seasonal cycle in the extratropical Southern Hemisphere suggests that ventilation of deep ocean water (microbially enriched in N2O) and the stratospheric influx make similar contributions in phasing, and may be difficult to disentangle. In addition, there is a thermal signal in N2O due to seasonal ingassing and outgassing of cooling and warming surface waters that is out of phase and thus competes with the stratospheric and ventilation signals. All the seasonal signals discussed above are subtle and are generally better quantified in high-frequency in situ data than in data from weekly flask samples, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. The importance of abiotic influences (thermal, stratospheric influx, and tropospheric transport) on N2O seasonal cycles suggests that, at many sites, surface N2O mixing ratio data by themselves are unlikely to provide information about seasonality in surface sources (e.g., for atmospheric inversions), but may be more powerful if combined with complementary data such as CFC-12 mixing ratios or N2O isotopes.

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Interannual fluctuations in the seasonal cycle of nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons due to the Brewer-Dobson circulation

Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres ◽

10.1002/jgrd.50832 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 118 (19) ◽

pp. 10,694-10,706 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

P. G. Simmonds ◽

A. J. Manning ◽

M. Athanassiadou ◽

A. A. Scaife ◽

R. G. Derwent ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nitrous Oxide ◽

Seasonal Cycle ◽

Interannual Fluctuations

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Southern Hemisphere atmospheric blocking diagnostic by ECMWF and NCEP/NCAR data

Revista Brasileira de Meteorologia ◽

10.1590/s0102-77862012000300001 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 263-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Monica Cristina Damião Mendes ◽

Iracema F. A. Cavalcanti ◽

Dirceu Luis Herdies

Keyword(s):

Atlantic Ocean ◽

Southern Hemisphere ◽

Geopotential Height ◽

Seasonal Cycle ◽

South Pacific ◽

Reanalysis Data ◽

Data Sets ◽

Atmospheric Blocking ◽

Assimilation Scheme

An assessment of blocking episodes over the Southern Hemisphere, selected from the Era-40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis are presented in this study. Blocking can be defined by an objective index based on two 500 hPa geopotential height meridional gradients. The seasonal cycle and preferential areas of occurrence are well reproduced by the two data sets. In both reanalysis used in this study, South Pacific and Oceania were the preferred regions for blocking occurrence, followed by the Atlantic Ocean. However the results revealed differences in frequencies of occurrences, which may be related to the choice of assimilation scheme employed to produce the reanalysis data sets. It is important to note that the ERA 40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis were produced using consistent models and assimilation schemes throughout the whole reanalyzed period, which are different for each set.

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Nonstationarity in Southern Hemisphere Climate Variability Associated with the Seasonal Breakdown of the Stratospheric Polar Vortex

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-17-0097.1 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 30 (18) ◽

pp. 7125-7139 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Nicholas J. Byrne ◽

Theodore G. Shepherd ◽

Tim Woollings ◽

R. Alan Plumb

Keyword(s):

Climate Variability ◽

Southern Hemisphere ◽

Seasonal Cycle ◽

Vortex Breakdown ◽

Polar Vortex ◽

Reanalysis Data ◽

Early Summer ◽

Stratospheric Polar Vortex ◽

Time Symmetry

Abstract Statistical models of climate generally regard climate variability as anomalies about a climatological seasonal cycle, which are treated as a stationary stochastic process plus a long-term seasonally dependent trend. However, the climate system has deterministic aspects apart from the climatological seasonal cycle and long-term trends, and the assumption of stationary statistics is only an approximation. The variability of the Southern Hemisphere zonal-mean circulation in the period encompassing late spring and summer is an important climate phenomenon and has been the subject of numerous studies. It is shown here, using reanalysis data, that this variability is rendered highly nonstationary by the organizing influence of the seasonal breakdown of the stratospheric polar vortex, which breaks time symmetry. It is argued that the zonal-mean tropospheric circulation variability during this period is best viewed as interannual variability in the transition between the springtime and summertime regimes induced by variability in the vortex breakdown. In particular, the apparent long-term poleward jet shift during the early-summer season can be more simply understood as a delay in the equatorward shift associated with this regime transition. The implications of such a perspective for various open questions are discussed.

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Sixty years of radiocarbon dioxide measurements at Wellington, New Zealand 1954–2014

10.5194/acp-2016-1110 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jocelyn C. Turnbull ◽

Sara E. Mikaloff Fletcher ◽

India Ansell ◽

Gordon Brailsford ◽

Rowena Moss ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Southern Ocean ◽

Co2 Emissions ◽

Southern Hemisphere ◽

Northern Hemisphere ◽

Seasonal Cycle ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

Anthropogenic Sources ◽

Deep Waters ◽

Cape Grim

Abstract. We present 60 years of Δ14CO2 measurements from Wellington, New Zealand (41° S, 175° E). The record has been extended and fully revised. New measurements have been used to evaluate the existing record and to replace original measurements where warranted. This is the earliest atmospheric Δ14CO2 record and records the rise of the 14C "bomb spike", the subsequent decline in Δ14CO2 as bomb 14C moved throughout the carbon cycle and increasing fossil fuel CO2 emissions further decreased atmospheric Δ14CO2. The initially large seasonal cycle in the 1960s reduces in amplitude and eventually reverses in phase, resulting in a small seasonal cycle of about 2 ‰ in the 2000s. The seasonal cycle at Wellington is dominated by the seasonality of cross-tropopause transport, and differs slightly from that at Cape Grim, Australia, which is influenced by anthropogenic sources in winter. Δ14CO2 at Cape Grim and Wellington show very similar trends, with significant differences only during periods of known measurement uncertainty. In contrast, Northern Hemisphere clean air sites show a higher and earlier bomb 14C peak, consistent with a 1.4-year interhemispheric exchange time. From the 1970s until the early 2000s, the Northern and Southern Hemisphere Δ14CO2 were quite similar, apparently due to the balance of 14C-free fossil fuel CO2 emissions in the north and 14C-depleted ocean upwelling in the south. The Southern Hemisphere sites show a consistent and marked elevation above the Northern Hemisphere sites since the early 2000s, which is most likely due to reduced upwelling of 14C-depleted and carbon-rich deep waters in the Southern Ocean. This developing Δ14CO2 interhemispheric gradient is consistent with recent studies that indicate a reinvigorated Southern Ocean carbon sink since the mid-2000s, and suggests that upwelling of deep waters plays an important role in this change.

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Global reconstruction reduces the uncertainty of oceanic nitrous oxide emissions and reveals a vigorous seasonal cycle

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1921914117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (22) ◽

pp. 11954-11960 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Simon Yang ◽

Bonnie X. Chang ◽

Mark J. Warner ◽

Thomas S. Weber ◽

Annie M. Bourbonnais ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nitrous Oxide ◽

Seasonal Cycle ◽

Coastal Upwelling ◽

Learning Algorithm ◽

Southern Oscillation ◽

Latitudinal Gradients ◽

Nitrous Oxide Emissions ◽

Boreal Summer ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Tropical Ocean

Assessment of the global budget of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) is limited by poor knowledge of the oceanicN2O flux to the atmosphere, of which the magnitude, spatial distribution, and temporal variability remain highly uncertain. Here, we reconstruct climatologicalN2O emissions from the ocean by training a supervised learning algorithm with over 158,000N2O measurements from the surface ocean—the largest synthesis to date. The reconstruction captures observed latitudinal gradients and coastal hot spots ofN2O flux and reveals a vigorous global seasonal cycle. We estimate an annual meanN2O flux of 4.2 ± 1.0 Tg N⋅y−1, 64% of which occurs in the tropics, and 20% in coastal upwelling systems that occupy less than 3% of the ocean area. ThisN2O flux ranges from a low of 3.3 ± 1.3 Tg N⋅y−1in the boreal spring to a high of 5.5 ± 2.0 Tg N⋅y−1in the boreal summer. Much of the seasonal variations in globalN2O emissions can be traced to seasonal upwelling in the tropical ocean and winter mixing in the Southern Ocean. The dominant contribution to seasonality by productive, low-oxygen tropical upwelling systems (>75%) suggests a sensitivity of the globalN2O flux to El Niño–Southern Oscillation and anthropogenic stratification of the low latitude ocean. This ocean flux estimate is consistent with the range adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but reduces its uncertainty by more than fivefold, enabling more precise determination of other terms in the atmosphericN2O budget.

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Global Sourcing of Low-Inorganic Arsenic Rice Grain

Exposure and Health ◽

10.1007/s12403-019-00330-y ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 711-719 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Manus Carey ◽

Caroline Meharg ◽

Paul Williams ◽

Ernest Marwa ◽

Xiao Jiujin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Southern Hemisphere ◽

Arsenic Speciation ◽

Inorganic Arsenic ◽

Rice Grain ◽

Dimethylarsinic Acid ◽

South American ◽

Global Sourcing ◽

Human Diet ◽

Tropical Regions ◽

Eastern Hemisphere

AbstractArsenic in rice grain is dominated by two species: the carcinogen inorganic arsenic (the sum of arsenate and arsenite) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). Rice is the dominant source of inorganic arsenic into the human diet. As such, there is a need to identify sources of low-inorganic arsenic rice globally. Here we surveyed polished (white) rice across representative regions of rice production globally for arsenic speciation. In total 1180 samples were analysed from 29 distinct sampling zones, across 6 continents. For inorganic arsenic the global $$\tilde{x}$$ x ~ was 66 μg/kg, and for DMA this figure was 21 μg/kg. DMA was more variable, ranging from < 2 to 690 μg/kg, while inorganic arsenic ranged from < 2 to 399 μg/kg. It was found that inorganic arsenic dominated when grain sum of species was < 100 μg/kg, with DMA dominating at higher concentrations. There was considerable regional variance in grain arsenic speciation, particularly in DMA where temperate production regions had higher concentrations. Inorganic arsenic concentrations were relatively consistent across temperate, subtropical and northern hemisphere tropical regions. It was only in southern hemisphere tropical regions, in the eastern hemisphere that low-grain inorganic arsenic is found, namely East Africa ($$\tilde{x}$$ x ~ < 10 μg/kg) and the Southern Indonesian islands ($$\tilde{x}$$ x ~ < 20 μg/kg). Southern hemisphere South American rice was universally high in inorganic arsenic, the reason for which needs further exploration.

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Examination of the 2002 major warming in the southern hemisphere using ground-based and Odin/SMR assimilated data: stratospheric ozone distributions and tropic/mid-latitude exchange

Canadian Journal of Physics ◽

10.1139/p07-143 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 85 (11) ◽

pp. 1287-1300 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

H Bencherif ◽

L El Amraoui ◽

N Semane ◽

S Massart ◽

D Vidyaranya Charyulu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nitrous Oxide ◽

Southern Hemisphere ◽

Transport Model ◽

Stratospheric Ozone ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Polar Vortex ◽

Low Latitude ◽

Height Range ◽

Weather Forecasts ◽

European Centre

Following an exceptionally active winter, the 2002 Southern Hemisphere (SH) major warming occurred in late September. It was preceded by three minor warming events that occurred in late August and early September, and yielded vortex split and break-down over Antarctica. Ozone (O3 and nitrous oxide (N2O) profiles obtained during that period of time (15 August – 4 October) by the Sub-Millimetre Radiometer (SMR) aboard the Odin satellite are assimilated into MOCAGE (Modélisation Isentrope du transport Mésoéchelle de l'Ozone Stratosphérique par Advection), a global three-dimensional chemistry transport model of Météo-France. The assimilated algorithm is a three-dimensional-FGAT built by the European Centre for Research and Advance Training in Scientific Computation (CERFACS) using the PALM (Projet d'Assimilation par Logiciel Multi-méthode) software. The assimilated O3 and N2O profiles and isentropic distributions are compared to ground-based measurements (LIDAR and balloon-sonde) and to maps of advected potential vorticity (APV). The latter is computed by the MIMOSA (Modélisation Isentrope du transport Mésoéchelle de l'Ozone Stratosphérique par Advection) model, a high-resolution advection transport model, using meteorological fields from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). It is found that O3 concentrations retrieved by the MOCAGE–PALM assimilation system show a reasonably good agreement in the 20–28 km height range when compared with ground-based profiles. This altitude range corresponds to the intersection between the MOCAGE levels (0–28 km) and SMR O3 retrievals (20–50 km). Moreover, comparison of N2O assimilated fields with MIMOSA APV maps indicates that the dramatic split and subsequent break-down of the polar vortex, as well as the associated mixing of mid- and low-latitude stratospheric air, are well resolved and pictured by MOCAGE–PALM. The present study demonstrates also that the tremendous dynamics and associated polar vortex deformations during the 2002-austral-winter have modified ozone and nitrous oxide distributions not only at the vicinity of the polar vortex, but over topics and subtropics as well. PACS Nos.: 92.60.H–, 92.60.Hd, 92.70.Cp, 92.70.Gt

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Global marine plankton functional type biomass distributions: coccolithophores

Earth System Science Data Discussions ◽

10.5194/essdd-5-491-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 491-520 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

C. J. O'Brien ◽

J. A. Peloquin ◽

M. Vogt ◽

M. Heinle ◽

N. Gruber ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Southern Hemisphere ◽

Northern Hemisphere ◽

Seasonal Cycle ◽

Marine Phytoplankton ◽

The North ◽

Carbon Biomass ◽

Time Period ◽

The Pacific ◽

Individual Contributions ◽

June July

Abstract. Coccolithophores are calcifying marine phytoplankton of the class Prymnesiophyceae. They are considered to play an import role in the global carbon cycle through the production and export of organic carbon and calcite. We have compiled observations of global coccolithophore abundance from several existing databases as well as individual contributions of published and unpublished datasets. We estimate carbon biomass using standardised conversion methods and provide estimates of uncertainty associated with these values. The database contains 58 384 individual observations at various taxonomic levels. This corresponds to 12 391 observations of total coccolithophore abundance and biomass. The data span a time period of 1929–2008, with observations from all ocean basins and all seasons, and at depths ranging from the surface to 500 m. Highest biomass values are reported in the North Atlantic, with a maximum of 501.7 μg C l−1. Lower values are reported for the Pacific (maximum of 79.4 μg C l−1) and Indian Ocean (up to 178.3 μg C l−1). Coccolithophores are reported across all latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, from the Equator to 89° N, although biomass values fall below 3 μg C l−1 north of 70° N. In the Southern Hemisphere, biomass values fall rapidly south of 50° S, with only a single non-zero observation south of 60° S. Biomass values show a clear seasonal cycle in the Northern Hemisphere, reaching a maximum in the summer months (June–July). In the Southern Hemisphere the seasonal cycle is less evident, possibly due to a greater proportion of low-latitude data. The original and gridded datasets can be downloaded from Pangaea (http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.785092).

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