Supplementary material to "Quantifying pollution transport from the Asian monsoon anticyclone into the lower stratosphere"

Author(s):  
Felix Ploeger ◽  
Paul Konopka ◽  
Kaley Walker ◽  
Martin Riese
2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 7055-7066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Ploeger ◽  
Paul Konopka ◽  
Kaley Walker ◽  
Martin Riese

Abstract. Pollution transport from the surface to the stratosphere within the Asian monsoon circulation may cause harmful effects on stratospheric chemistry and climate. Here, we investigate air mass transport from the monsoon anticyclone into the stratosphere using a Lagrangian chemistry transport model. We show how two main transport pathways from the anticyclone emerge: (i) into the tropical stratosphere (tropical pipe), and (ii) into the Northern Hemisphere (NH) extratropical lower stratosphere. Maximum anticyclone air mass fractions reach around 5 % in the tropical pipe and 15 % in the extratropical lowermost stratosphere over the course of a year. The anticyclone air mass fraction correlates well with satellite hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and carbon monoxide (CO) observations, confirming that pollution is transported deep into the tropical stratosphere from the Asian monsoon anticyclone. Cross-tropopause transport occurs in a vertical chimney, but with the pollutants transported quasi-horizontally along isentropes above the tropopause into the tropics and NH.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Ploeger ◽  
Paul Konopka ◽  
Kaley Walker ◽  
Martin Riese

Abstract. Pollution transport from the surface to the stratosphere within the Asian monsoon circulation may cause harmful effects on stratospheric chemistry and climate. Here, we investigate air mass transport from the monsoon anticyclone into the stratosphere using a Lagrangian chemistry transport model. We show how two main transport pathways from the anticyclone emerge: (i) into the tropical stratosphere (tropical pipe), and (ii) into the Northern hemisphere (NH) extra-tropical lower stratosphere. Maximum anticyclone air mass fractions reach around 5 % in the tropical pipe and 15 % in the extra-tropical lowermost stratosphere over the course of a year. The anticyclone air mass fraction correlates well with satellite hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and carbon monoxide (CO) observations, corroborating that pollution is transported deep into the tropical stratosphere from the Asian monsoon anticyclone. Cross-tropopause transport occurs in a vertical chimney, but with the emissions transported quasi-horizontally along isentropes above the tropopause into the tropics and NH.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 757-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Park ◽  
W. J. Randel ◽  
L. K. Emmons ◽  
P. F. Bernath ◽  
K. A. Walker ◽  
...  

Abstract. Evidence of chemical isolation in the Asian monsoon anticyclone is presented using chemical constituents obtained from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer instrument during summer (June–August) of 2004–2006. Carbon monoxide (CO) shows a broad maximum over the monsoon anticyclone region in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS); these enhanced CO values are associated with air pollution transported upward by convection, and confined by the strong anticyclonic circulation. Profiles inside the anticyclone show enhancement of tropospheric tracers CO, HCN, C2H6, and C2H2 between ~12 to 20 km, with maxima near 13–15 km. Strong correlations are observed among constituents, consistent with sources from near-surface pollution and biomass burning. Stratospheric tracers (O3, HNO3 and HCl) exhibit decreased values inside the anticyclone between ~12–20 km. These observations are further evidence of transport of lower tropospheric air into the UTLS region, and isolation of air within the anticyclone. The relative enhancements of tropospheric species inside the anticyclone are closely related to the photochemical lifetime of the species, with strongest enhancement for shorter lived species. Vertical profiles of the ratio of C2H2/CO (used to measure the relative age of air) suggest relatively rapid transport of fresh emissions up to the tropopause level inside the anticyclone.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Khaykin ◽  
Elizabeth Moyer ◽  
Martina Krämer ◽  
Benjamin Clouser ◽  
Silvia Bucci ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Asian Monsoon Anticyclone (AMA) represents the wettest region in the lower stratosphere (LS) and is the key contributor to the global annual maximum in LS water vapour. While the AMA wet pool is linked with persistent convection in the region and horizontal confinement of the anticyclone, there remain ambiguities regarding the role of tropopause-overshooting convection in maintaining the regional LS water vapour maximum. This study tackles this issue using a unique set of observations from onboard the high-altitude M55-Geophysica aircraft deployed in Nepal in Summer 2017 within the EU StratoClim project. We use a combination of airborne measurements (water vapour, ice water, water isotopes, cloud backscatter) together with ensemble trajectory modeling coupled with satellite observations to characterize the processes controlling water vapour and clouds in the confined lower stratosphere (CLS) of AMA. Our analysis puts in evidence the dual role of overshooting convection, which may lead to hydration or dehydration depending on the synoptic-scale tropopause temperatures in AMA. We show that all of the observed CLS water vapour enhancements are traceable to convective events within AMA and furthermore bear an isotopic signature of the overshooting process. A surprising result is that the plumes of moist air with mixing ratios nearly twice the background level can persist for weeks whilst recirculating within the anticyclone, without being subject to irreversible dehydration through ice settling. Our findings highlight the importance of convection and recirculation within AMA for the transport of water into the stratosphere.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (23) ◽  
pp. 34765-34812
Author(s):  
S. Müller ◽  
P. Hoor ◽  
H. Bozem ◽  
E. Gute ◽  
B. Vogel ◽  
...  

Abstract. The transport of air masses originating from the Asian monsoon anticyclone into the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (Ex-UTLS) above potential temperatures Θ = 380 K was identified during the HALO aircraft mission TACTS in August and September 2012. In-situ measurements of CO, O3 and N2O during TACTS Flight 2 on the 30 August 2012 show the irreversible mixing of aged with younger (originating from the troposphere) stratospheric air masses within the Ex-UTLS. Backward trajectories calculated with the trajetory module of the CLaMS model indicate that these tropospherically affected air masses originate from the Asian monsoon anticyclone. From the monsoon circulation region these air masses are quasi-isentropically transported above Θ = 380 K into the Ex-UTLS where they subsequently mix with stratospheric air masses. The overall trace gas distribution measured during TACTS shows that this transport pathway has a significant impact on the Ex-UTLS during boreal summer and autumn. This leads to an intensification of the tropospheric influence on the Ex-UTLS with ΔΘ > 30 K (relative to the tropopause) within three weeks during the TACTS mission. In the same time period a weakening of the tropospheric influence on the lowermost stratosphere (LMS) is determined. Therefore, the study shows that the transport of air masses originating from the Asian summer monsoon region within the lower stratosphere above Θ = 380 K is of major importance for the change of the chemical composition of the Ex-UTLS from summer to autumn.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bärbel Vogel ◽  
Gebhard Günther ◽  
Rolf Müller ◽  
Jens-Uwe Grooß ◽  
Armin Afchine ◽  
...  

Abstract. Global simulations with the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) using artificial tracers of air mass origin are used to analyze transport pathways from the Asian monsoon region into the lower stratosphere. In a case study, the transport of air masses from the Asian monsoon anticyclone originating in India/China by an eastward migrating anticyclone breaking off from the main anticyclone on 20 September 2012 and filaments separated at the northeastern flank of the anticyclone are analyzed. Enhanced contributions of young air masses (younger than 5 months) are found within the separated anticyclone confined at the top by the thermal tropopause. Further, these air masses are confined by the anticyclonic circulation and at the polar side by the subtropical jet such as the vertical structure looks like a bubble within the upper troposphere. Subsequently, these air masses are transported eastwards along the subtropical jet and enter the lower stratosphere by quasi-horizontal transport in a region of double tropopauses most likely associated with Rossby wave breaking events. As a result, thin filaments with enhanced signatures of tropospheric trace gases are measured in the lower stratosphere over Europe during the TACTS/ESMVal campaign in September 2012 in very good agreement with CLaMS simulations. Our simulations demonstrate that source regions in Asia and in the Pacific Ocean have a significant impact on the chemical composition of the lower stratosphere of the Northern Hemisphere by flooding the extratropical lower stratosphere with young moist air masses in particular at end of the monsoon season in September/October 2012 (up to ~30 % at 380 K) in contrast to the southern hemisphere. End of October 2012, approximately 1.5 ppmv H2O is found in the lower northern hemisphere stratosphere (at 380 K) from source regions in Asia and the tropical Pacific compared to a mean water vapor content of ~5 ppmv. In addition to this main transport pathway from the Asian monsoon anticyclone to the east along the subtropical jet and subsequent transport into the northern lower stratosphere, a second horizontal transport pathway out of the anticyclone to the west into the tropics (TTL) is found in agreement with MIPAS HCFC-22 measurements.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 1937-1954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leong Wai Siu ◽  
Kenneth P. Bowman

Abstract During the boreal warm season (May–September), the circulation in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere is dominated by two large anticyclones: the Asian monsoon anticyclone (AMA) and North American monsoon anticyclone (NAMA). The existence of the AMA has long been linked to Asian monsoon precipitation using the Matsuno–Gill framework, but the origin of the NAMA has not been clearly understood. Here the forcing mechanisms of the NAMA are investigated using a simplified dry general circulation model. The simulated anticyclones are in good agreement with observations when the model is forced by a zonally symmetric meridional temperature gradient plus a realistic geographical distribution of heating based on observed tropical and subtropical precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere. Model experiments show that the AMA and NAMA are largely independent of one another, and the NAMA is not a downstream response to the Asian monsoon. The primary forcing of the NAMA is precipitation in the longitude sector between 60° and 120°W, with the largest contribution coming from the subtropical latitudes within that sector. Experiments with idealized regional heating distributions reveal that the extratropical response to tropical and subtropical precipitation depends approximately linearly on the magnitude of the forcing but nonlinearly on its latitude. The AMA is stronger than the NAMA, primarily because precipitation in the subtropics over Asia is much heavier than at similar latitudes in the Western Hemisphere.


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