scholarly journals Long-term halocarbon observations from a coastal and an inland site in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 8369-8388 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Robinson ◽  
N. R. P. Harris ◽  
M. J. Ashfold ◽  
B. Gostlow ◽  
N. J. Warwick ◽  
...  

Abstract. Short-lived halocarbons are believed to have important sources in the tropics, where rapid vertical transport could provide a significant source to the stratosphere. In this study, quasi-continuous measurements of short-lived halocarbons are reported for two tropical sites in Sabah (Malaysian Borneo), one coastal and one inland (rainforest). We present the observations for C2Cl4, CHBr3, CH2Br2* (actually ~80% CH2Br2 and ~20% CHBrCl2) and CH3I from November 2008 to January 2010 made using our μDirac gas chromatographs with electron capture detection (GC-ECD). We focus on the first 15 months of observations, showing over one annual cycle for each compound and therefore adding significantly to the few limited-duration observational studies that have been conducted thus far in southeast Asia. The main feature in the C2Cl4 behaviour at both sites is its annual cycle, with the winter months being influenced by northerly flow with higher concentrations, typical of the Northern Hemisphere, and with the summer months influenced by southerly flow and lower concentrations representative of the Southern Hemisphere. No such clear annual cycle is seen for CHBr3, CH2Br2* or CH3I. The baseline values for CHBr3 and CH2Br2* are similar at the coastal (overall median: CHBr3 1.7 ppt, CH2Br2* 1.4 ppt) and inland sites (CHBr3 1.6 ppt, CH2Br2* 1.1 ppt), but periods with elevated values are seen at the coast (overall 95th percentile: CHBr3 4.4 ppt, CH2Br2ast 1.9 ppt), presumably resulting from the stronger influence of coastal emissions. Overall median bromine values from [CHBr3 × 3] + [CH2Br2* × 2] are 8.0 ppt at the coast and 6.8 ppt inland. The median values reported here are largely consistent with other limited tropical data and imply that southeast Asia generally is not, as has been suggested, a hot spot for emissions of these compounds. These baseline values are consistent with the most recent emissions found for southeast Asia using the p-TOMCAT (Toulouse Off-line Model of Chemistry And Transport) model. CH3I, which is only observed at the coastal site, is the shortest-lived compound measured in this study, and the observed atmospheric variations reflect this, with high variability throughout the study period.

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1919-1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Robinson ◽  
N. R. P. Harris ◽  
M. J. Ashfold ◽  
B. Gostlow ◽  
N. J. Warwick ◽  
...  

Abstract. Short lived halocarbons are believed to have important sources in the tropics where rapid vertical transport could provide a significant source to the stratosphere. In this study, quasi-continuous measurements of short-lived halocarbons are reported for two tropical sites in Sabah (Malaysian Borneo), one coastal and one inland (rainforest). We present the observations for C2Cl4, CHBr3, CH2Br2* (actually ~80% CH2Br2 and ~20% CHBrCl2) and CH3I from November 2008 to January 2010 made using our μDirac gas chromatographs with electron capture detection (GC-ECD). We focus on the first 15 months of observations, showing over one annual cycle for each compound and therefore adding significantly to the few limited-duration observational studies that have been conducted thus far in southeast Asia. The main feature in the C2Cl4 behaviour at both sites is its annual cycle with the winter months being influenced by northerly flow with higher concentrations, typical of the Northern Hemisphere, with the summer months influenced by southerly flow and lower concentrations representative of the Southern Hemisphere. No such clear annual cycle is seen for CHBr3, CH2Br2Br2* or CH3I. The baseline values for CHBr3 and CH2Br2Br2* are similar at the coastal (overall median: CHBr3 1.7 ppt; CH2Br2Br2* 1.4 ppt) and inland sites (CHBr3 1.6 ppt, CH2Br2Br2* 1.1 ppt), but periods with elevated values are seen at the coast (overall 95th percentile: CHBr3 4.4 ppt; CH2Br2Br2* 1.9 ppt) presumably resulting from the stronger influence of coastal emissions. Overall median bromine values from [CHBr3] + [CH2Br2Br2*] are 8.0 ppt at the coast and 6.8 ppt inland. The median values reported here are largely consistent with other limited tropical data and imply that southeast Asia generally is not, as has been suggested, a hot-spot for emissions of these compounds. These baseline values are consistent with the most recent emissions found for southeast Asia using the p-TOMCAT model. CH3I, which is only observed at the coastal site, is the shortest-lived compound measured in this study and the observed atmospheric variations reflect this, with high variability throughout the study period.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1589-1634 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Considine ◽  
J. A. Logan ◽  
M. A. Olsen

Abstract. The NASA Global Modeling Initiative has developed a combined stratosphere/troposphere chemistry and transport model which fully represents the processes governing atmospheric composition near the tropopause. We evaluate model ozone distributions near the tropopause, using two high vertical resolution monthly mean ozone profile climatologies constructed with ozonesonde data, one by averaging on pressure levels and the other relative to the thermal tropopause. Model ozone is high-biased at the SH tropical and NH midlatitude tropopause by ~45% in a 4° latitude × 5° longitude model simulation. Increasing the resolution to 2°×2.5&amp;deg increases the NH tropopause high bias to ~60%, but decreases the tropical tropopause bias to ~30%, an effect of a better-resolved residual circulation. The tropopause ozone biases appear not to be due to an overly vigorous residual circulation or excessive stratosphere/troposphere exchange, but are more likely due to insufficient vertical resolution or excessive vertical diffusion near the tropopause. In the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, model/measurement intercomparisons are strongly affected by the averaging technique. NH and tropical mean model lower stratospheric biases are <20%. In the upper troposphere, the 2°×2.5&amp;deg simulation exhibits mean high biases of ~20% and~35% during April in the tropics and NH midlatitudes, respectively, compared to the pressure-averaged climatology. However, relative-to-tropopause averaging produces upper troposphere high biases of ~30% and 70% in the tropics and NH midlatitudes. This is because relative-to-tropopause averaging better preserves large cross-tropopause O3 gradients, which are seen in the daily sonde data, but not in daily model profiles. The relative annual cycle of ozone near the tropopause is reproduced very well in the model Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes. In the tropics, the model amplitude of the near-tropopause annual cycle is weak. This is likely due to the annual amplitude of mean vertical upwelling near the tropopause, which analysis suggests is ~30% weaker than in the real atmosphere.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 2365-2385 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Considine ◽  
J. A. Logan ◽  
M. A. Olsen

Abstract. The NASA Global Modeling Initiative has developed a combined stratosphere/troposphere chemistry and transport model which fully represents the processes governing atmospheric composition near the tropopause. We evaluate model ozone distributions near the tropopause, using two high vertical resolution monthly mean ozone profile climatologies constructed with ozonesonde data, one by averaging on pressure levels and the other relative to the thermal tropopause. At the tropopause, model ozone is high-biased in the SH tropics and NH midlatitudes by ~45% in a 4° latitude ×5° longitude model simulation. Doubling the resolution to 2°×2.5° increases the NH high bias to ~60%, and reduces the tropical bias to ~30%, apparently due to decreased horizontal transport between the tropics and extratropics in the higher-resolution simulation. These ozone biases do not appear to be due to an overly vigorous residual circulation, insufficient convection, or excessive stratosphere/troposphere exchange, and so may be due to insufficient vertical resolution or excessive vertical diffusion near the tropopause. In the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, model/measurement intercomparisons are strongly affected by the averaging technique. Compared to the pressure-averaged climatology, NH and tropical mean model lower stratospheric biases are >20%. In the upper troposphere, the 2°×2.5° simulation shows mean high biases of ~20% and ~35% during April in the tropics and NH midlatitudes, respectively. This apparently good model/measurement agreement degrades when relative-to-tropopause averages are considered, with upper troposphere high biases of ~30% and 70% in the tropics and NH midlatitudes. This occurs because relative-to-tropopause averaging better preserves the larger cross-tropopause O3 gradients which are seen in the daily sonde data, but not in daily model profiles. Relative-to-tropopause averages therefore more accurately reveal model/measurement discrepancies. The relative annual cycle of ozone near the tropopause is reproduced very well in the model Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes. In the tropics, the model amplitude of the near-tropopause annual cycle is weak. This is likely due to the annual amplitude of mean vertical upwelling near the tropopause, which analysis suggests is ~30% weaker than in the real atmosphere.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Eleftheratos ◽  
C. S. Zerefos ◽  
P. Zanis ◽  
D. S. Balis ◽  
G. Tselioudis ◽  
...  

Abstract. The seasonal variability and the interannual variance explained by ENSO and NAO to cirrus cloud cover (CCC) are examined during the twenty-year period 1984–2004. CCC was found to be significantly correlated with vertical velocities and relative humidity from ECMWF/ERA40 in the tropics (correlations up to –0.7 and +0.7 at some locations, respectively) suggesting that variations in large-scale vertical winds and relative humidity fields can be the origin of up to half of the local variability in CCC over these regions. These correlations reflect mostly the seasonal cycle. Although the annual cycle is dominant in all latitudes and longitudes, peaking over the tropics and subtropics, its amplitude can be exceeded during strong El Nino/La Nina events. Over the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean the interannual variance of CCC which can be explained by ENSO is about 6.8% and it is ~2.3 times larger than the amplitude of the annual cycle. Natural long-term trends in the tropics are generally small (about –0.3% cloud cover per decade) and possible manmade trends in those regions are also small. The contributions of NAO and QBO to the variance of CCC in the tropics are also small. In the northern mid–latitudes, on the other hand, the effect of NAO is more significant and can be very important regionally. Over northern Europe and the eastern part of the North Atlantic Flight Corridor (NAFC) there is a small positive correlation between CCC and NAO index during the wintertime of about 0.3. In this region, the interannual variance of CCC explained by NAO is 2.6% and the amplitude of the annual cycle is 3.1%. Long-term trends over this region are about +1.6% cloud cover per decade and compare well with the observed manmade trends over congested air traffic regions in Europe and the North Atlantic as have been evidenced from earlier findings.


2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 758-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin E. Trenberth ◽  
Lesley Smith ◽  
Taotao Qian ◽  
Aiguo Dai ◽  
John Fasullo

Abstract A brief review is given of research in the Climate Analysis Section at NCAR on the water cycle. Results are used to provide a new estimate of the global hydrological cycle for long-term annual means that includes estimates of the main reservoirs of water as well as the flows of water among them. For precipitation P over land a comparison among three datasets enables uncertainties to be estimated. In addition, results are presented for the mean annual cycle of the atmospheric hydrological cycle based on 1979–2000 data. These include monthly estimates of P, evapotranspiration E, atmospheric moisture convergence over land, and changes in atmospheric storage, for the major continental landmasses, zonal means over land, hemispheric land means, and global land means. The evapotranspiration is computed from the Community Land Model run with realistic atmospheric forcings, including precipitation that is constrained by observations for monthly means but with high-frequency information taken from atmospheric reanalyses. Results for E − P are contrasted with those from atmospheric moisture budgets based on 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) data. The latter show physically unrealistic results, because evaporation often exceeds precipitation over land, especially in the Tropics and subtropics.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 12133-12154 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Diallo ◽  
B. Legras ◽  
A. Chédin

Abstract. The Brewer-Dobson mean circulation and its variability are investigated in the ERA-Interim over the period 1989-2010 by using an off-line Lagrangian transport model driven by analysed winds and heating rates. At low and mid-latitudes, the mean age of air in the lower stratosphere is in good agreement with ages derived from aircraft, high altitude balloon and satellite observations of long-lived tracers. At high latitude and in the upper stratosphere, we find, however that the ERA-Interim ages exhibit an old bias, typically of one to two years. The age spectrum exhibits a long tail except in the low tropical stratosphere which is modulated by the annual cycle of the tropical upwelling. The distribution of ages and its variability is consistent with the existence of two separate branches, shallow and deep, of the Brewer-Dobson circulation. Both branches are modulated by the tropical upwelling and the shallow branch is also modulated by the subtropical barrier. The variability of the mean age is analysed through a decomposition in terms of annual cycle, QBO, ENSO and trend. The annual modulation is the dominating signal in the lower stratosphere and is maximum at latitudes greater than 50° in both hemispheres with oldest ages at the end of the winter. The phase of the annual modulation is also reversed between below and above 25 km. The maximum amplitude of the QBO modulation is of about 0.5 yr and is mostly concentrated within the tropics between 25 and 35 km. It lags the QBO wind at 30 hPa by about 8 months. The ENSO signal is small and limited to the lower northen stratosphere. The age trend over the 1989–2010 period, according to this ERA-Interim dataset, is significant and negative, of the order of −0.3 to −0.5 yr dec−1, within the lower stratosphere in the Southern Hemisphere and south of 40° N in the Northern Hemisphere below 25 km. The age trend is positive (of the order of 0.3 yr dec−1) in the mid stratosphere but there is no region of consistent significance. This suggests that the shallow and deep Brewer-Dobson circulations may evolve in opposite directions. Finally, we find that the long lasting influence of the Pinatubo eruption can be seen on the age of air from June 1991 until the end of 1993 and can bias the statistics encompassing this period.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 2631-2642 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Eleftheratos ◽  
C. S. Zerefos ◽  
P. Zanis ◽  
D. S. Balis ◽  
G. Tselioudis ◽  
...  

Abstract. The seasonal variability and the interannual variance explained by ENSO and NAO to cirrus cloud cover (CCC) are examined during the twenty-year period 1984–2004. CCC was found to be significantly correlated with vertical velocities and relative humidity from ECMWF/ERA40 in the tropics (correlations up to −0.7 and +0.7 at some locations, respectively) suggesting that variations in large-scale vertical winds and relative humidity fields can be the origin of up to half of the local variability in CCC over these regions. These correlations reflect mostly the seasonal cycle. Although the annual cycle is dominant in all latitudes and longitudes, peaking over the tropics and subtropics, its amplitude can be exceeded during strong El Nino/La Nina events. Over the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean the interannual variance of CCC which can be explained by ENSO is about 6.8% and it is ~2.3 times larger than the amplitude of the annual cycle. Natural long-term trends in the tropics are generally small (about −0.3% cloud cover per decade) and possible manmade trends in those regions are also small. The contributions of NAO and QBO to the variance of CCC in the tropics are also small. In the northern mid-latitudes, on the other hand, the effect of NAO is more significant and can be very important regionally. Over northern Europe and the eastern part of the North Atlantic Flight Corridor (NAFC) there is a small positive correlation between CCC and NAO index during the wintertime of about 0.3. In this region, the interannual variance of CCC explained by NAO is 2.6% and the amplitude of the annual cycle is 3.1%. Long-term trends over this region are about +1.6% cloud cover per decade and compare well with the observed manmade trends over congested air traffic regions in Europe and the North Atlantic as have been evidenced from earlier findings.


Mammalia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Joscha Maiwald ◽  
Jayasilan Mohd-Azlan ◽  
Jedediah F. Brodie

AbstractSelective logging is very widespread across the tropics and can alter the habitat for myriad wildlife species. But while many studies have assessed the impacts of past logging on forest animals, far fewer have investigated how species respond to logging while the timber operations are actually going on. This is an important knowledge gap because, considering the prevalence of logging across the world, numerous areas will be undergoing active extraction at any given time. We compared the occurrence and diel activity patterns of individual species of medium- to large-bodied terrestrial mammals, as well as the richness of the entire assemblage, among sites that were either unlogged, had been logged historically, or had ongoing ‘reduced impact’ timber extraction in the Kapit Region of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. We found no significant differences in estimated occupancy or activity patterns of particular species, or in overall species richness, among logging treatments. Across sites, species richness in this area appeared to be as high as or higher than in many other parts of the state, including some protected areas. Though monitoring is needed to assess potential long-term impacts, our results suggest that reduced-impact logging could allow economic development that is sustainable for many wildlife populations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 11819-11838 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Hossaini ◽  
H. Mantle ◽  
M. P. Chipperfield ◽  
S. A. Montzka ◽  
P. Hamer ◽  
...  

Abstract. Emissions of halogenated very short-lived substances (VSLS) are poorly constrained. However, their inclusion in global models is required to simulate a realistic inorganic bromine (Bry) loading in both the troposphere, where bromine chemistry perturbs global oxidising capacity, and in the stratosphere, where it is a major sink for ozone (O3). We have performed simulations using a 3-D chemical transport model (CTM) including three top-down and a single bottom-up derived emission inventory of the major brominated VSLS bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2). We perform the first concerted evaluation of these inventories, comparing both the magnitude and spatial distribution of emissions. For a quantitative evaluation of each inventory, model output is compared with independent long-term observations at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ground-based stations and with aircraft observations made during the NSF (National Science Foundation) HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) project. For CHBr3, the mean absolute deviation between model and surface observation ranges from 0.22 (38%) to 0.78 (115%) parts per trillion (ppt) in the tropics, depending on emission inventory. For CH2Br2, the range is 0.17 (24%) to 1.25 (167%) ppt. We also use aircraft observations made during the 2011 Stratospheric Ozone: Halogen Impacts in a Varying Atmosphere (SHIVA) campaign, in the tropical western Pacific. Here, the performance of the various inventories also varies significantly, but overall the CTM is able to reproduce observed CHBr3 well in the free troposphere using an inventory based on observed sea-to-air fluxes. Finally, we identify the range of uncertainty associated with these VSLS emission inventories on stratospheric bromine loading due to VSLS (BryVSLS). Our simulations show BryVSLS ranges from ~4.0 to 8.0 ppt depending on the inventory. We report an optimised estimate at the lower end of this range (~4 ppt) based on combining the CHBr3 and CH2Br2 inventories which give best agreement with the compilation of observations in the tropics.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 12485-12539 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Hossaini ◽  
H. Mantle ◽  
M. P. Chipperfield ◽  
S. A. Montzka ◽  
P. Hamer ◽  
...  

Abstract. Emissions of halogenated very short-lived substances (VSLS) are poorly constrained. However, their inclusion in global models is required to simulate a realistic inorganic bromine (Bry) loading in both the troposphere, where bromine chemistry perturbs global oxidizing capacity, and in the stratosphere, where it is a major sink for ozone (O3). We have performed simulations using a 3-D chemical transport model (CTM) including three top-down and a single bottom-up derived emission inventory of the major brominated VSLS bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2). We perform the first concerted evaluation of these inventories, comparing both the magnitude and spatial distribution of emissions. For a quantitative evaluation of each inventory, model output is compared with independent long-term observations at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ground-based stations and with aircraft observations made during the NSF HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) project. For CHBr3, the mean absolute deviation between model and surface observation ranges from 0.22 (38%) to 0.78 (115%) parts per trillion (ppt) in the tropics, depending on emission inventory. For CH2Br2, the range is 0.17 (24%) to 1.25 (167%) ppt. We also use aircraft observations made during the 2011 "Stratospheric Ozone: Halogen Impacts in a Varying Atmosphere" (SHIVA) campaign, in the tropical West Pacific. Here, the performance of the various inventories also varies significantly, but overall the CTM is able to reproduce observed CHBr3 well in the free troposphere using an inventory based on observed sea-to-air fluxes. Finally, we identify the range of uncertainty associated with these VSLS emission inventories on stratospheric bromine loading due to VSLS (BryVSLS). Our simulations show BryVSLS ranges from ~ 4.0 to 8.0 ppt depending on the inventory. We report an optimised estimate at the lower end of this range (~ 4 ppt) based on combining the CHBr3 and CH2Br2 inventories which give best agreement with the compilation of observations in the tropics.


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