scholarly journals A potential vorticity-based determination of the transport barrier in the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (22) ◽  
pp. 13145-13159 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Ploeger ◽  
C. Gottschling ◽  
S. Griessbach ◽  
J.-U. Grooß ◽  
G. Guenther ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Potential Vorticity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Local Maximum ◽  
Time Averaging ◽  
Transport Barrier ◽  
Asian Summer

Abstract. The Asian summer monsoon provides an important pathway of tropospheric source gases and pollution into the lower stratosphere. This transport is characterized by deep convection and steady upwelling, combined with confinement inside a large-scale anticyclonic circulation in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). In this paper, we show that a barrier to horizontal transport along the 380 K isentrope in the monsoon anticyclone can be determined from a local maximum in the gradient of potential vorticity (PV), following methods developed for the polar vortex (e.g., Nash et al., 1996). The monsoon anticyclone is dynamically highly variable and the maximum in the PV gradient is weak, such that additional constraints are needed (e.g., time averaging). Nevertheless, PV contours in the monsoon anticyclone agree well with contours of trace gas mixing ratios (CO, O3) and mean age from model simulations with a Lagrangian chemistry transport model (CLaMS) and satellite observations from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument. Hence, the PV-based transport barrier reflects the separation between air inside the core of the anticyclone and the background atmosphere well. For the summer season 2011 we find an average PV value of 3.6 PVU for the transport barrier in the anticyclone on the 380 K isentrope.

scholarly journals A PV-based determination of the transport barrier in the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 10593-10628 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Ploeger ◽  
C. Gottschling ◽  
S. Griessbach ◽  
J.-U. Grooß ◽  
G. Günther ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Time Averaging ◽  
Transport Barrier ◽  
Asian Summer

Abstract. The Asian summer monsoon provides an important pathway of tropospheric source gases and pollution into the lower stratosphere. This transport is characterized by deep convection and steady upwelling, combined with confinement inside a large-scale anticyclonic circulation in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). In this paper, we show that a barrier to horizontal transport along the 380 K isentrope in the monsoon anticyclone can be determined from the potential vorticity (PV) field, following the polar vortex criterion by Nash et al. (1996). Due to large dynamic variability of the anticyclone, the corresponding maximum in the PV gradient is weak and additional constraints are needed (e.g., time averaging). Notwithstanding, PV contours in the monsoon anticyclone agree well with contours of trace gas mixing ratios (CO, O3) and mean age from model simulations with a Lagrangian chemistry transport model (CLaMS) and MLS satellite observations. Hence, the PV-based transport barrier reflects the separation between air inside the anticyclone core and the background atmosphere well. For the summer season 2011 we find an average PV value of 3.6 PVU for the transport barrier in the anticyclone on the 380 K isentrope.

scholarly journals Upper tropospheric CO and O<sub>3</sub> budget during the Asian Summer Monsoon

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Barret ◽  
B. Sauvage ◽  
Y. Bennouna ◽  
E. Le Flochmoen
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Satellite Data ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Gangetic Plain ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Asian Summer

Abstract. During the Asian Summer Monsoon, the circulation in the Upper Troposphere-Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) is dominated by the Asian Monsoon Anticyclone (AMA). Pollutants convectively uplifted to the upper troposphere are trapped within this anticyclonic circulation that extends from the Pacific Ocean to the eastern Mediterranean basin. Among the uplifted pollutants are ozone (O3) and its precursors, such as carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Many studies based on global modelisation and satellite data have documented the source regions and transport pathways of primary pollutants (CO, HCN) into the AMA. Here, we aim to quantify the O3 budget by taking into consideration anthropogenic and natural sources. We first use CO and O3 data from the Metop-A/IASI sensor to document their tropospheric distributions over Asia, taking advantage of the useful information they provide on the vertical dimension. These satellite data are used together with MOZAIC/IAGOS tropospheric profiles recorded in India to validate the distributions simulated by the global GEOS-Chem chemistry transport model. Over the Asian region, UTLS monthly CO and O3 distributions from IASI and GEOS-Chem display the same large-scale features. UTLS CO columns from GEOS-Chem are in agreement with IASI, with a low bias of 11 ± 9% and a correlation coefficient of 0.70. For O3, the model underestimates IASI UTLS columns over Asia by 14 ± 26% but the correlation between both is high (0.94). GEOS-Chem is further used to quantify the CO and O3 budget through sensitivity simulations. For CO, these simulations confirm that South-Asian anthropogenic emissions have a more important impact on enhanced concentrations within the AMA (∼25 ppbv) than East-Asian emissions (∼10 ppbv). The correlation between enhanced emissions over the Indo–gangetic–Plain and monsoon deep convection is responsible for this larger impact. Consistently, South-Asian anthropogenic NOx emissions also play a larger role in producing O3 within the AMA (∼8 ppbv) than East-Asian emissions (∼5 ppbv) but Asian lightning produced NOx are responsible for the largest O3 production (10–14 ppbv). Stratosphere to Troposphere Exchanges (STE) are also important in transporting O3 in the upper part of the AMA.

Water vapor variability in the Asian summer monsoon lower stratosphere from satellite observations and transport model simulations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiao Chen ◽  
Jonathon Wright ◽  
Xiaolu Yan ◽  
Paul Konopka
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
The West ◽  
Stratospheric Water Vapor ◽  
Second Mode ◽  
Asian Summer ◽  
Cold Point

&lt;p&gt;The Asian monsoon anticyclone is an important transport pathway for water vapor entering the global stratosphere. We use pentad-resolution gridded data from Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) satellite observations and CLaMS transport model simulations based on two atmospheric reanalyses to examine variations of water vapor in the lower stratosphere (100-68hPa) above the Asian summer monsoon during the warm seasons (May-September) of 2005 through 2017. Model outputs have been post-processed to facilitate direct comparison with MLS retrievals. A localized water vapor maximum is present in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere above the Asian summer monsoon, with substantial interannual and intraseasonal variability superimposed on the mean seasonal cycle. The CLaMS simulations largely capture both the climatological distribution and variability of lower stratospheric water vapor but with a systematic moist bias, sharper spatial gradients, and larger variance in time relative to MLS. Applying principal component analysis to both vertical and horizontal variability of deseasonalized anomalies within this layer, we identify and describe the three leading modes of variability in lower stratospheric water vapor. The leading mode features regional-scale moistening or drying, with anomalies taking the same sign throughout the layer. Notably, cold point temperature anomalies are in phase with water vapor anomalies in the western part of the domain but out of phase in the eastern part of the domain, where the largest water vapor anomalies are located. The moist phase of this mode is also associated with systematically deeper convection through much of the monsoon domain. The second mode features a vertical dipole, with wet anomalies at 100 hPa (centered over the Persian Gulf but stretching across most of the domain) coupled with dry anomalies at 68 hPa and vice versa. This mode is linked to large anomalies in cold point temperature that span the southern part of the monsoon domain, with the moist phase at 100 hPa associated with warmer cold point temperatures. Warmer temperatures lead to negative anomalies in radiative heating in the lower stratosphere, which may in turn explain the dry anomalies at 68 hPa. The third mode features a horizontal dipole oriented east-to-west, with a deep layer of enhanced water vapor centered over the southeastern Tibetan Plateau coupled with dry anomalies in the west and vice versa. The moist phase of this mode is associated with more extensive cloud cover and deeper convection stretching across China from the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Cold point temperatures are colder and the upper-level monsoon anticyclone stronger in the eastern part of the domain, with opposing anomalies in the west. CLaMS is largely able to reproduce the first and third modes, but fails to capture the second mode and overemphasizes the importance of the third mode. Meanwhile, the monsoon season of 2017 emerges as a special case, with persistent large positive anomalies in lower stratospheric water vapor that are reproduced when CLaMS is driven using ERA-Interim but not when it is driven by MERRA-2. We discuss some possible explanations for these differences.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Characterization of transport from the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone into the UTLS via shedding of low-potential vorticity cutoffs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Clemens ◽  
Felix Ploeger ◽  
Paul Konopka ◽  
Raphael Portmann ◽  
Michael Sprenger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Evolution ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Potential Vorticity ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Lagrangian Model ◽  
Monsoon Circulation ◽  
Gradual Change ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Asian Summer

Abstract. Air mass transport within the summertime Asian monsoon circulation provides a major source of anthropogenic pollution for the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). Here, we investigate the quasi-horizontal transport of air masses from the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone (ASMA) into the extratropical lower stratosphere and their chemical evolution. For that reason, we developed a method to identify and track the air masses exported from the monsoon. This method is based on the anomalously low potential vorticity (PV) of these air masses (tropospheric low–PV cutoffs) compared to the lower-stratosphere, and uses trajectory calculations and chemical fields from the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS). The results show evidence for frequent summertime transport from the monsoon anticyclone to mid-latitudes over the North Pacific, even reaching high latitude regions of Siberia and Alaska. Most of the low–PV cutoffs related to air masses exported from the ASMA have lifetimes shorter than one week (about 90 %) and sizes smaller than 1 percent of the northern hemisphere (NH) area. The chemical composition of these air masses is characterised by carbon monoxide, ozone and water vapour mixing ratios at an intermediate range between values typical for the monsoon anticyclone and the lower-stratosphere. The chemical evolution during transport within these low–PV cutoffs shows a gradual change from characteristics of the monsoon anticyclone to characteristics of the lower stratospheric background during about one week, indicating continuous mixing with the background atmosphere.

scholarly journals Upper-tropospheric CO and O<sub>3</sub> budget during the Asian summer monsoon

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (14) ◽  
pp. 9129-9147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brice Barret ◽  
Bastien Sauvage ◽  
Yasmine Bennouna ◽  
Eric Le Flochmoen
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Satellite Data ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Gangetic Plain ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Asian Summer

Abstract. During the Asian summer monsoon, the circulation in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS) is dominated by the Asian monsoon anticyclone (AMA). Pollutants convectively uplifted to the upper troposphere are trapped within this anticyclonic circulation that extends from the Pacific Ocean to the Eastern Mediterranean basin. Among the uplifted pollutants are ozone (O3) and its precursors, such as carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Many studies based on global modeling and satellite data have documented the source regions and transport pathways of primary pollutants (CO, HCN) into the AMA. Here, we aim to quantify the O3 budget by taking into consideration anthropogenic and natural sources. We first use CO and O3 data from the MetOp-A/IASI sensor to document their tropospheric distributions over Asia, taking advantage of the useful information they provide on the vertical dimension. These satellite data are used together with MOZAIC tropospheric profiles recorded in India to validate the distributions simulated by the global GEOS-Chem chemistry transport model. Over the Asian region, UTLS monthly CO and O3 distributions from IASI and GEOS-Chem display the same large-scale features. UTLS CO columns from GEOS-Chem are in agreement with IASI, with a low bias of 11 ± 9 % and a correlation coefficient of 0.70. For O3, the model underestimates IASI UTLS columns over Asia by 14 ± 26 % but the correlation between both is high (0.94). GEOS-Chem is further used to quantify the CO and O3 budget through sensitivity simulations. For CO, these simulations confirm that South Asian anthropogenic emissions have a more important impact on enhanced concentrations within the AMA (∼  25 ppbv) than East Asian emissions (∼  10 ppbv). The correlation between enhanced emissions over the Indo-Gangetic Plain and monsoon deep convection is responsible for this larger impact. Consistently, South Asian anthropogenic NOx emissions also play a larger role in producing O3 within the AMA (∼  8 ppbv) than East Asian emissions (∼  5 ppbv), but Asian lightning-produced NOx is responsible for the largest O3 production (10–14 ppbv). Stratosphere-to-troposphere exchanges are also important in transporting O3 in the upper part of the AMA.

scholarly journals Remote and local drivers of Pleistocene South Asian summer monsoon precipitation: A test for future predictions

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (23) ◽  
pp. eabg3848
Author(s):  
Steven C. Clemens ◽  
Masanobu Yamamoto ◽  
Kaustubh Thirumalai ◽  
Liviu Giosan ◽  
Julie N. Richey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Precipitation Amount ◽  
Monsoon Precipitation ◽  
Orbital Eccentricity ◽  
South Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Asian Summer

South Asian precipitation amount and extreme variability are predicted to increase due to thermodynamic effects of increased 21st-century greenhouse gases, accompanied by an increased supply of moisture from the southern hemisphere Indian Ocean. We reconstructed South Asian summer monsoon precipitation and runoff into the Bay of Bengal to assess the extent to which these factors also operated in the Pleistocene, a time of large-scale natural changes in carbon dioxide and ice volume. South Asian precipitation and runoff are strongly coherent with, and lag, atmospheric carbon dioxide changes at Earth’s orbital eccentricity, obliquity, and precession bands and are closely tied to cross-equatorial wind strength at the precession band. We find that the projected monsoon response to ongoing, rapid high-latitude ice melt and rising carbon dioxide levels is fully consistent with dynamics of the past 0.9 million years.

scholarly journals Analysis of a rapid increase of stratospheric ozone during late austral summer 2008 over Kerguelen (49.4° S, 70.3° E)

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 363-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Bencherif ◽  
L. El Amraoui ◽  
G. Kirgis ◽  
J. Leclair De Bellevue ◽  
A. Hauchecorne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Potential Vorticity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Global Mapping ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract. This paper reports on an increase of ozone event observed over Kerguelen (49.4° S, 70.3° E) in relationship with large-scale isentropic transport. This is evidenced by ground-based observations (co-localised radiosonde and SAOZ experiments) together with satellite global observations (Aura/MLS) assimilated into MOCAGE, a Méteo-France model. The study is based on the analyses of the first ozonesonde experiment never recorded at the Kerguelen site within the framework of a French campaign called ROCK that took place from April to August 2008. Comparisons and interpretations of the observed event are supported by co-localised SAOZ observations, by global mapping of tracers (O3, N2O and columns of O3) from Aura/MLS and Aura/OMI experiments, and by model simulations of Ertel Potential Vorticity initialised by the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) data reanalyses. Satellite and ground-based observational data revealed a consistent increase of ozone in the local stratosphere by mid-April 2008. Additionally, Ozone (O3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) profiles obtained during January–May 2008 using the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) aboard the Aura satellite are assimilated into MOCAGE (MOdèle de Chimie Atmosphérique à Grande Echelle), a global three-dimensional chemistry transport model of Météo-France. The assimilated total O3 values are consistent with SAOZ ground observations (within ±5%), and isentropic distributions of O3 match well with maps of advected potential vorticity (APV) derived from the MIMOSA model, a high-resolution advection transport model, and from the ECMWF reanalysis. The event studied seems to be related to the isentropic transport of air masses that took place simultaneously in the lower- and middle-stratosphere, respectively from the polar region and from the tropics to the mid-latitudes. In fact, the ozone increase observed by mid April 2008 resulted simultaneously: (1) from an equator-ward departure of polar air masses characterised with a high-ozone layer in the lower stratosphere (near the 475 K isentropic level), and (2) from a reverse isentropic transport from the tropics to mid- and high-latitudes in the upper stratosphere (nearby the 700 K level). The increase of ozone observed over Kerguelen from the 16-April ozonesonde profile is thus attributed to a concomitant isentropic transport of ozone in two stratospheric layers: the tropical air moving southward and reaching over Kerguelen in the upper stratosphere, and the polar air passing over the same area but in the lower stratosphere.

scholarly journals Global Extratropical Response to Diabatic Heating Variability of the Asian Summer Monsoon

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (9) ◽  
pp. 2697-2713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Lin
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Summer Monsoon ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Convective Activity ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Asian Summer ◽  
Circulation Anomalies

Abstract Global teleconnections associated with the Asian summer monsoon convective activities are investigated based on monthly data of 29 Northern Hemisphere summers defined as June–September (JJAS). Two distinct teleconnection patterns are identified that are associated respectively with variabilities of the Indian summer monsoon and the western North Pacific summer monsoon. The Indian summer monsoon convective activity is associated with a global pattern that has a far-reaching connection in both hemispheres, whereas the western North Pacific summer monsoon convective activity is connected to a Southern Hemisphere wave train that influences the high-latitude South Pacific and South America. A global primitive equation model is utilized to assess the cause of the global circulation anomalies. The model responses to anomalous heatings of both monsoon systems match the general features of the observed circulation anomalies well, and they are mainly controlled by linear processes. The response patterns are largely determined by the summertime large-scale background mean flow and the location of the heating anomaly relative to the upper easterly jet in the monsoon region.

A mechanism for moistening the lower stratosphere involving the Asian summer monsoon

1999 ◽  
Vol 125 (556) ◽  
pp. 1079-1106 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dethof ◽  
A. O'Neill ◽  
J. M. Slingo ◽  
H. G. J. Smit
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Asian Summer
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