Premium
Importance of coarse‐mode nitrate produced via sea salt as atmospheric input to East Asian oceans
Author(s) -
Itahashi Syuichi,
Hayami Hiroshi,
Uno Itsushi,
Pan Xiaole,
Uematsu Mitsuo
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl068722
Subject(s) - sea salt , nitrate , china sea , deposition (geology) , environmental science , east asia , mode (computer interface) , nitrogen , chemical transport model , atmospheric sciences , nitric acid , environmental chemistry , oceanography , aerosol , china , chemistry , geology , meteorology , geography , troposphere , geomorphology , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , archaeology , sediment , computer science , operating system
The atmospheric input of anthropogenic total reactive oxygenated nitrogen (NO y ) to ocean regions in East Asia during 2002–2004 was revisited with an updated regional chemical transport model and the latest emissions inventory. The updated model treats both fine‐ and coarse‐mode nitrate (NO 3 − ). Coarse‐mode NO 3 − is produced by the reaction of nitric acid (HNO 3 ) and sea salt particles. The modeling system reproduced the atmospheric concentration and wet deposition amount of NO 3 − quantitatively compared with observations. The fraction of coarse‐mode NO 3 − was also well captured. NO y deposition amounts over marginal seas and open oceans were 733 and 730 Gg N/yr, which are increases of 1.6‐ and 2.2‐fold, respectively, by including coarse‐mode NO 3 − . Anthropogenic NO x emissions from China were 5377 Gg N/yr, and 3060 Gg N/yr was exported from China; therefore, the NO y deposition amount over ocean regions in East Asia (1463 Gg N/yr) corresponded to almost half (48%) of the export amounts.