scholarly journals What are drivers of the tropospheric ozone reduction during spring 2020?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Gaubert ◽  
Idir Bouarar ◽  
Guy P. Brasseur ◽  
Thierno Doumbia ◽  
Sabine Darras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Tropospheric Ozone ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Quantitative Agreement ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Peroxy Radicals ◽  
Secondary Pollutants ◽  
Community Earth System Model

<p>We use the global Community Earth System Model to investigate the response of secondary pollutants (ozone O<sub>3</sub>, secondary organic aerosols SOA) in different parts of the world in response to modified emissions of primary pollutants during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We quantify the respective effects of the reductions in anthropogenic emissions and meteorological anomalies, including a discussion on long-term changes from the chemical climatology. We show that the level of NOx has been reduced by typically 40 % in China during February 2020 and by similar amounts in many areas of Europe and North America in mid-March to mid-April 2020. Relative to a situation in which the emission reductions are ignored and despite the calculated increase in hydroxyl and peroxy radicals, the ozone concentration increased only in a few NOx‐saturated regions during the winter months of the pandemic when the titration of this molecule by NOx was reduced. In other regions, where ozone is NOx‐controlled, the concentration of ozone decreased. Zonally averaged ozone concentrations in the free troposphere during Northern Hemisphere spring and summer were 5 to 15 % lower than 19-year climatological values, in good quantitative agreement with observations from ozonesondes and ground-based remote sensing from the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). About one third of this anomaly is attributed to the drastic reduction in air traffic during the pandemic, another third to reductions in surface emissions, the remainder to 2020 meteorological conditions, including the exceptional springtime Arctic stratospheric ozone depletion. The overall COVID-19 reduction in mean northern hemisphere tropospheric ozone in June is less than 5 ppb below 400 hPa, but reaches 8 ppb at 250 hPa.</p>

scholarly journals An exploration of ozone changes and their radiative forcing prior to the chlorofluorocarbon era

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 363-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. T. Shindell ◽  
G. Faluvegi
Keyword(s):  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Tropospheric Ozone ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Independent Data ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Ozone Trends ◽  
Ozone Trend

Abstract. Using historical observations and model simulations, we investigate ozone trends prior to the mid-1970s onset of halogen-induced ozone depletion. Though measurements are quite limited, an analysis based on multiple, independent data sets (direct and indirect) provides better constraints than any individual set of observations. We find that three data sets support an apparent long-term stratospheric ozone trend of -7.2 ± 2.3 DU during 1957-1975, which modeling attributes primarily to water vapor increases. The results suggest that 20th century stratospheric ozone depletion may have been roughly 50% more than is generally supposed. Similarly, three data sets support tropospheric ozone increases over polluted Northern Hemisphere continental regions of 8.2 ± 2.1 DU during this period, which are mutually consistent with the stratospheric trends. As with paleoclimate data, which is also based on indirect proxies and/or limited spatial coverage, these results must be interpreted with caution. However, they provide the most thorough estimates presently available of ozone changes prior to the coincident onset of satellite data and halogen dominated ozone changes. If these apparent trends were real, the radiative forcing by stratospheric ozone since the 1950s would then have been -0.15 ± 0.05 W/m2, and -0.2 W/m2 since the preindustrial. For tropospheric ozone, it would have been 0.38 ± 0.10 W/m2 since the late 1950s. Combined with even a very conservative estimate of tropospheric ozone forcing prior to that time, this would be larger than current estimates since 1850 which are derived from models that are even less well constrained. These calculations demonstrate the importance of gaining a better understanding of historical ozone changes.

scholarly journals Changes to the chemical state of the northern hemisphere atmosphere during the second half of the twentieth century

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike J. Newland ◽  
Patricia Martinerie ◽  
Emmanuel Witrant ◽  
Detlev Helmig ◽  
David R. Worton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Secondary Products ◽  
Alkyl Nitrates ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract. The NOX (NO and NO2) and HOX (OH and HO2) budgets of the atmosphere exert a major influence on atmospheric composition, controlling removal of primary pollutants and formation of a wide range of secondary products, including ozone, that can influence human health and climate. However, there remain large uncertainties in the changes to these budgets over recent decades. Due to their short atmospheric lifetimes, NOX and HOX are highly variable in space and time, and so the measurements of these species are of very limited value for examining long term, large scale changes to their budgets. Here, we take an alternative approach by examining long-term atmospheric trends of alkyl nitrates, the formation of which is dependent on the atmospheric NO / HO2 ratio. We derive long term trends in the alkyl nitrates from measurements in firn air from the NEEM site, Greenland. Their mixing ratios increased by a factor of 4–5 between the 1970s and 1990s. This was followed by a steep decline to the sampling date of 2008. Moreover, we examine how the trends in the alkyl nitrates compare to similarly derived trends in their parent alkanes (i.e. the alkanes which, when oxidised in the presence of NOX, lead to the formation of the alkyl nitrates). The ratios of the alkyl nitrates to their parent alkanes increase from around 1970 to the late 1990's consistent with large changes to the [NO] / [HO2] ratio in the northern hemisphere atmosphere during this period. These could represent historic changes to NOX sources and sinks. Alternatively, they could represent changes to concentrations of the hydroxyl radical, OH, or to the transport time of the air masses from source regions to the Arctic.

scholarly journals Ozone database in support of CMIP5 simulations: results and corresponding radiative forcing

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 10875-10933 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Cionni ◽  
V. Eyring ◽  
J. F. Lamarque ◽  
W. J. Randel ◽  
D. S. Stevenson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Tropospheric Ozone ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
High Latitudes ◽  
The Future ◽  
Column Ozone

Abstract. A continuous tropospheric and stratospheric vertically resolved ozone time series, from 1850 to 2099, has been generated to be used as forcing in global climate models that do not include interactive chemistry. A multiple linear regression analysis of SAGE I+II satellite observations and polar ozonesonde measurements is used for the stratospheric zonal mean dataset during the well-observed period from 1979 to 2009. In addition to terms describing the mean annual cycle, the regression includes terms representing equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine (EESC) and the 11-yr solar cycle variability. The EESC regression fit coefficients, together with pre-1979 EESC values, are used to extrapolate the stratospheric ozone time series backward to 1850. While a similar procedure could be used to extrapolate into the future, coupled chemistry climate model (CCM) simulations indicate that future stratospheric ozone abundances are likely to be significantly affected by climate change, and capturing such effects through a regression model approach is not feasible. Therefore, the stratospheric ozone dataset is extended into the future (merged in 2009) with multi-model mean projections from 13 CCMs that performed a simulation until 2099 under the SRES (Special Report on Emission Scenarios) A1B greenhouse gas scenario and the A1 adjusted halogen scenario in the second round of the Chemistry-Climate Model Validation (CCMVal-2) Activity. The stratospheric zonal mean ozone time series is merged with a three-dimensional tropospheric data set extracted from simulations of the past by two CCMs (CAM3.5 and PUCCINI) and of the future by one CCM (CAM3.5). The future tropospheric ozone time series continues the historical CAM3.5 simulation until 2099 following the four different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). Generally good agreement is found between the historical segment of the ozone database and satellite observations, although it should be noted that total column ozone is overestimated in the southern polar latitudes during spring and tropospheric column ozone is slightly underestimated. Vertical profiles of tropospheric ozone are broadly consistent with ozonesondes and in-situ measurements, with some deviations in regions of biomass burning. The tropospheric ozone radiative forcing (RF) from the 1850s to the 2000s is 0.23 W m−2, lower than previous results. The lower value is mainly due to (i) a smaller increase in biomass burning emissions; (ii) a larger influence of stratospheric ozone depletion on upper tropospheric ozone at high southern latitudes; and possibly (iii) a larger influence of clouds (which act to reduce the net forcing) compared to previous radiative forcing calculations. Over the same period, decreases in stratospheric ozone, mainly at high latitudes, produce a RF of −0.08 W m−2, which is more negative than the central Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) value of −0.05 W m−2, but which is within the stated range of −0.15 to +0.05 W m−2. The more negative value is explained by the fact that the regression model simulates significant ozone depletion prior to 1979, in line with the increase in EESC and as confirmed by CCMs, while the AR4 assumed no change in stratospheric RF prior to 1979. A negative RF of similar magnitude persists into the future, although its location shifts from high latitudes to the tropics. This shift is due to increases in polar stratospheric ozone, but decreases in tropical lower stratospheric ozone, related to a strengthening of the Brewer-Dobson circulation, particularly through the latter half of the 21st century. Differences in trends in tropospheric ozone among the four RCPs are mainly driven by different methane concentrations, resulting in a range of tropospheric ozone RFs between 0.4 and 0.1 W m−2 by 2100. The ozone dataset described here has been released for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) model simulations in netCDF Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Convention at the PCMDI website (http://cmip-pcmdi.llnl.gov/).

scholarly journals Emission location dependent ozone depletion potentials for very short-lived halogenated species

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 16277-16305
Author(s):  
I. Pisso ◽  
P. H. Haynes ◽  
K. S. Law
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Degradation Products ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Surface Emission ◽  
Spatial And Seasonal Variation ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Simplifying Assumptions ◽  
Hemisphere Winter ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract. We present trajectory-based estimates of Ozone Depletion Potentials (ODPs) for very short-lived halogenated source gases as a function of surface emission location. The ODPs are determined by the fraction of source gas and its degradation products which reach the stratosphere, depending primarily on tropospheric transport and chemistry, and the effect of the resulting reactive halogen in the stratosphere, which is determined by stratospheric transport and chemistry, in particular by stratospheric residence time. Reflecting the different timescales and physico-chemical processes in the troposphere and stratosphere, the estimates are based on calculation of separate ensembles of trajectories for the troposphere and stratosphere. A methodology is described by which information from the two ensembles can be combined to give the ODPs. The ODP estimates for a species with a 20 d lifetime, representing a compound like n-propyl bromide, are presented as an example. The estimated ODPs show strong geographical and season variation, particularly within the tropics. The values of the ODPs are sensitive to the inclusion of a convective parametrization in the trajectory calculations, but the relative spatial and seasonal variation is not. The results imply that ODPs are largest for emissions from South and South-East Asia during Northern Hemisphere summer and from the Western Pacific during Northern Hemisphere winter. Large ODPs are also estimated for emissions throughout the tropics with also non-negligible values extending into northern mid-latitudes particularly in the summer. These first estimates, which include some simplifying assumptions, show larger ODP values than previous studies, particularly over Southern Asia, suggesting that emissions of short-lived halogen source gases in certain geographical regions could have a significant impact on stratospheric ozone depletion.

scholarly journals Northern Hemisphere Stratospheric Ozone Depletion Caused by Solar Proton Events: The Role of the Polar Vortex

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 2115-2124 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H. Denton ◽  
R. Kivi ◽  
T. Ulich ◽  
M. A. Clilverd ◽  
C. J. Rodger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Solar Proton ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion ◽  
Solar Proton Events

scholarly journals Stratospheric ozone depletion during the 1995–1996 Arctic winter: 3-D simulations on the potential role of different PSC types

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 1163-1181 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hendricks ◽  
F. Baier ◽  
G. Günther ◽  
B. C. Krüger ◽  
A. Ebel
Keyword(s):  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Middle Atmosphere ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Particle Growth ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Formation Mechanisms ◽  
Three Dimensional Model ◽  
Type Ia

Abstract. The sensitivity of modelled ozone depletion in the winter Arctic stratosphere to different assumptions of prevalent PSC types and PSC formation mechanisms is investigated. Three-dimensional simulations of the winter 1995/96 are performed with the COlogne Model of the Middle Atmosphere (COMMA) by applying different PSC microphysical schemes. Model runs are carried out considering either liquid or solid PSC particles or a combined microphysical scheme. These simulations are then compared to a model run which only takes into account binary sulfate aerosols. The results obtained with the three-dimensional model agree with trajectory-box simulations performed in previous studies. The simulations suggest that conditions appropriate for type Ia PSC existence (T < TNAT ) occur over longer periods and cover larger areas when compared to conditions of potential type Ib PSC existence. Significant differences in chlorine activation and ozone depletion occur between the simulations including only either liquid or solid PSC particles. The largest differences, occurring over large spatial scales and during prolonged time periods, are modelled first, when the stratospheric temperatures stay below TNAT , but above the threshold of effective liquid particle growth and second, in the case of the stratospheric temperatures remaining below this threshold, but not falling below the ice frost point. It can be generally concluded from the present study that differences in PSC microphysical schemes can cause significant fluctuations in ozone depletion modelled for the winter Arctic stratosphere.Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (aerosols and particles; cloud physics and chemistry; middle atmosphere composition and chemistry)

scholarly journals A global climatology of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone derived from Aura OMI and MLS measurements

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 9237-9251 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Ziemke ◽  
S. Chandra ◽  
G. J. Labow ◽  
P. K. Bhartia ◽  
L. Froidevaux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Tropospheric Ozone ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Ozone Monitoring Instrument ◽  
Asian Continent ◽  
Nasa Goddard Space ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

Abstract. A global climatology of tropospheric and stratospheric column ozone is derived by combining six years of Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) ozone measurements for the period October 2004 through December 2010. The OMI/MLS tropospheric ozone climatology exhibits large temporal and spatial variability which includes ozone accumulation zones in the tropical south Atlantic year-round and in the subtropical Mediterranean/Asia region in summer months. High levels of tropospheric ozone in the Northern Hemisphere also persist in mid-latitudes over the eastern part of the North American continent extending across the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern part of the Asian continent extending across the Pacific Ocean. For stratospheric ozone climatology from MLS, largest column abundance is in the Northern Hemisphere in the latitude range 70° N–80° N in February–April and in the Southern Hemisphere around 40° S–50° S during August–October. Largest stratospheric ozone lies in the Northern Hemisphere and extends from the eastern Asian continent eastward across the Pacific Ocean and North America. With the advent of many newly developing 3-D chemistry and transport models it is advantageous to have such a dataset for evaluating the performance of the models in relation to dynamical and photochemical processes controlling the ozone distributions in the troposphere and stratosphere. The OMI/MLS gridded ozone climatology data are made available to the science community via the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center ozone and air quality website http://ozoneaq.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

scholarly journals Copernicus stratospheric ozone service, 2009–2012: validation, system intercomparison and roles of input data sets

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 2269-2293 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Lefever ◽  
R. van der A ◽  
F. Baier ◽  
Y. Christophe ◽  
Q. Errera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Total Ozone ◽  
Chemical Constituents ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract. This paper evaluates and discusses the quality of the stratospheric ozone analyses delivered in near real time by the MACC (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate) project during the 3-year period between September 2009 and September 2012. Ozone analyses produced by four different chemical data assimilation (CDA) systems are examined and compared: the Integrated Forecast System coupled to the Model for OZone And Related chemical Tracers (IFS-MOZART); the Belgian Assimilation System for Chemical ObsErvations (BASCOE); the Synoptic Analysis of Chemical Constituents by Advanced Data Assimilation (SACADA); and the Data Assimilation Model based on Transport Model version 3 (TM3DAM). The assimilated satellite ozone retrievals differed for each system; SACADA and TM3DAM assimilated only total ozone observations, BASCOE assimilated profiles for ozone and some related species, while IFS-MOZART assimilated both types of ozone observations. All analyses deliver total column values that agree well with ground-based observations (biases < 5%) and have a realistic seasonal cycle, except for BASCOE analyses, which underestimate total ozone in the tropics all year long by 7 to 10%, and SACADA analyses, which overestimate total ozone in polar night regions by up to 30%. The validation of the vertical distribution is based on independent observations from ozonesondes and the ACE-FTS (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment – Fourier Transform Spectrometer) satellite instrument. It cannot be performed with TM3DAM, which is designed only to deliver analyses of total ozone columns. Vertically alternating positive and negative biases are found in the IFS-MOZART analyses as well as an overestimation of 30 to 60% in the polar lower stratosphere during polar ozone depletion events. SACADA underestimates lower stratospheric ozone by up to 50% during these events above the South Pole and overestimates it by approximately the same amount in the tropics. The three-dimensional (3-D) analyses delivered by BASCOE are found to have the best quality among the three systems resolving the vertical dimension, with biases not exceeding 10% all year long, at all stratospheric levels and in all latitude bands, except in the tropical lowermost stratosphere. The northern spring 2011 period is studied in more detail to evaluate the ability of the analyses to represent the exceptional ozone depletion event, which happened above the Arctic in March 2011. Offline sensitivity tests are performed during this month and indicate that the differences between the forward models or the assimilation algorithms are much less important than the characteristics of the assimilated data sets. They also show that IFS-MOZART is able to deliver realistic analyses of ozone both in the troposphere and in the stratosphere, but this requires the assimilation of observations from nadir-looking instruments as well as the assimilation of profiles, which are well resolved vertically and extend into the lowermost stratosphere.

scholarly journals Long-term Variations in Ozone Levels in the Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere over Beijing: Observations and Model Simulations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuli Zhang ◽  
Mengchu Tao ◽  
Jinqiang Zhang ◽  
Yi Liu ◽  
Hongbin Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropospheric Ozone ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Tropospheric Chemistry ◽  
Lagrangian Model ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Sudden Decrease

Abstract. Tropospheric ozone is both a major pollutant and a short-lived greenhouse gas and has therefore attracted much concern in recent years. The ozone profile in the troposphere and lower stratosphere over Beijing has been observed since 2002 by ozonesondes developed by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics. Increasing concentrations of tropospheric ozone from 2002 to 2010 measured by these balloon-based observations have been reported previously. As more observations are now available, we used these data to analyze the long-term variability of ozone over Beijing during the whole period from 2002 to 2018. The ozonesondes measured increasing concentrations of ozone from 2002 to 2012 in both the troposphere and lower stratosphere. There was a sudden decrease in observed ozone between 2011 and 2012. After this decrease, the increasing trend in ozone concentrations slowed down, especially in the mid-troposphere, where the positive trend became neutral. We used the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) to determine the influence of the transport of ozone from the stratosphere to the troposphere on the observed ozone profiles. CLaMS showed a weak increase in the contribution of stratospheric ozone before the decrease in 2011–2012 and a much more pronounced decrease after this time. Because there is no tropospheric chemistry in CLaMS, the sudden decrease simulated by CLaMS indicates that a smaller downward transport of ozone from the stratosphere after 2012 may explain a significant part of the observed decrease in ozone in the mid-troposphere and lower stratosphere. However, the influence of stratospheric ozone in the lower troposphere is negligible in CLaMS and the hiatus in the positive trend after 2012 can be attributed to a reduction in ozone precursors as a result of stronger pollution control measures in Beijing.

scholarly journals Tracking Tropospheric Ozone Since 1979

Eos ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Shultz
Keyword(s):  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Tropospheric Ozone ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Ozone Production ◽  
Anthropogenic Emissions ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion

Stratospheric ozone depletion between 1979 and 2010 resulted in a slight decrease of ozone in the troposphere during that period despite increased ozone production from anthropogenic emissions.

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