Abstract. We present ship-borne measurements of surface ozone, carbon monoxide and methane over the Bay of Bengal (BoB), the first time such measurements have been taken during the summer monsoon season, as a part of the Continental Tropical Convergence Zone (CTCZ) experiment during 2009. O3, CO, and CH4 mixing ratios exhibited significant spatial and temporal variability in the ranges of 8–54 nmol mol−1, 50–200 nmol mol−1, and 1.57–2.15 µmol mol−1, with means of 29.7 ± 6.8 nmol mol−1, 96 ± 25 nmol mol−1, and 1.83 ± 0.14 µmol mol−1, respectively. The average mixing ratios of trace gases over northern BoB (O3: 30 ± 7 nmol mol−1, CO: 95 ± 25 nmol mol−1, CH4: 1.86 ± 0.12 µmol mol−1), in airmasses from northern or central India, did not differ much from those over central BoB (O3: 27 ± 5 nmol mol−1, CO: 101 ± 27 nmol mol−1, CH4: 1.72 ± 0.14 µmol mol−1), in airmasses from southern India. Spatial variability is observed to be most significant for CH4. The ship-based observations, in conjunction with backward air trajectories and ground-based measurements over the Indian region, are analyzed to estimate a net ozone production of 1.5–4 nmol mol−1 day−1 in the outflow. Ozone mixing ratios over the BoB showed large reductions (by ~ 20 nmol mol−1) during four rainfall events. Temporal changes in the meteorological parameters, in conjunction with ozone vertical profiles, indicate that these low ozone events are associated with downdrafts of free-tropospheric ozone-poor airmasses. While the observed variations in O3 and CO are successfully reproduced using the Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), this model overestimates mean concentrations by about 20 %, generally overestimating O3 mixing ratios during the rainfall events. Analysis of the chemical tendencies from model simulations for a low-O3 event on August 10, 2009, captured successfully by the model, shows the key role of horizontal advection in rapidly transporting ozone-rich airmasses across the BoB. Our study fills a gap in the availability of trace gas measurements over the BoB, and when combined with data from previous campaigns, reveals large seasonal amplitude (~ 39 and ~ 207 nmol mol−1 for O3 and CO, respectively) over the northern BoB.
Probability of dry and wet spells over West Africa during the summer monsoon season
