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 ◽  
...  

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.

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (22) ◽  
pp. 13145-13159 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Ploeger ◽  
C. Gottschling ◽  
S. Griessbach ◽  
J.-U. Grooß ◽  
G. Guenther ◽  
...  

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.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Barret ◽  
B. Sauvage ◽  
Y. Bennouna ◽  
E. Le Flochmoen

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.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiao Chen ◽  
Jonathon Wright ◽  
Xiaolu Yan ◽  
Paul Konopka

<p>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.</p>


Science ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 337 (6090) ◽  
pp. 78-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam E. Bourassa ◽  
Alan Robock ◽  
William J. Randel ◽  
Terry Deshler ◽  
Landon A. Rieger ◽  
...  

The Nabro stratovolcano in Eritrea, northeastern Africa, erupted on 13 June 2011, injecting approximately 1.3 teragrams of sulfur dioxide (SO2) to altitudes of 9 to 14 kilometers in the upper troposphere, which resulted in a large aerosol enhancement in the stratosphere. The SO2 was lofted into the lower stratosphere by deep convection and the circulation associated with the Asian summer monsoon while gradually converting to sulfate aerosol. This demonstrates that to affect climate, volcanic eruptions need not be strong enough to inject sulfur directly to the stratosphere.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (14) ◽  
pp. 9129-9147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brice Barret ◽  
Bastien Sauvage ◽  
Yasmine Bennouna ◽  
Eric Le Flochmoen

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (23) ◽  
pp. eabg3848
Author(s):  
Steven C. Clemens ◽  
Masanobu Yamamoto ◽  
Kaustubh Thirumalai ◽  
Liviu Giosan ◽  
Julie N. Richey ◽  
...  

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 4133-4152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Li ◽  
Bärbel Vogel ◽  
Rolf Müller ◽  
Jianchun Bian ◽  
Gebhard Günther ◽  
...  

Abstract. Low ozone and high water vapour mixing ratios are common features in the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) anticyclone; however, low ozone and low water vapour values were observed near the tropopause over Kunming, China, within the ASM using balloon-borne measurements performed during the SWOP (sounding water vapour, ozone, and particle) campaign in August 2009 and 2015. Here, we investigate low ozone and water vapour signatures in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) using FengYun-2D, FengYun-2G, and Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) satellite measurements and backward trajectory calculations. Trajectories with kinematic and diabatic vertical velocities were calculated using the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) trajectory module driven by both ERA-Interim and ERA5 reanalysis data. All trajectory calculations show that air parcels with low ozone and low water vapour values in the UTLS over Kunming measured by balloon-borne instruments originate from the western Pacific boundary layer. Deep convection associated with tropical cyclones over the western Pacific transports ozone-poor air from the marine boundary layer to the cold tropopause region. Subsequently, these air parcels are mixed into the strong easterlies on the southern side of the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone. Air parcels are dehydrated when passing the lowest temperature region (< 190 K) at the convective outflow of tropical cyclones. However, trajectory calculations show different vertical transport via deep convection depending on the employed reanalysis data (ERA-Interim, ERA5) and vertical velocities (diabatic, kinematic). Both the kinematic and the diabatic trajectory calculations using ERA5 data show much faster and stronger vertical transport than ERA-Interim primarily because of ERA5's better spatial and temporal resolution, which likely resolves convective events more accurately. Our findings show that the interplay between the ASM anticyclone and tropical cyclones has a significant impact on the chemical composition of the UTLS during summer.


2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (9) ◽  
pp. 2697-2713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Lin

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.


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

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