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Reassessing the variability in atmospheric H 2 using the two‐way nested TM5 model
Author(s) -
Pieterse G.,
Krol M. C.,
Batenburg A. M.,
M. Brenninkmeijer C. A.,
Popa M. E.,
O'Doherty S.,
Grant A.,
Steele L. P.,
Krummel P. B.,
Langenfelds R. L.,
Wang H. J.,
Vermeulen A. T.,
Schmidt M.,
Yver C.,
Jordan A.,
Engel A.,
Fisher R. E.,
Lowry D.,
Nisbet E. G.,
Reimann S.,
Vollmer M. K.,
Steinbacher M.,
Hammer S.,
Forster G.,
Sturges W. T.,
Röckmann T.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1002/jgrd.50204
Subject(s) - troposphere , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , climatology , deposition (geology) , northern hemisphere , snow , chemical transport model , parametrization (atmospheric modeling) , meteorology , geography , geology , physics , geomorphology , structural basin , radiative transfer , quantum mechanics
This work reassesses the global atmospheric budget of H 2 with the TM5 model. The recent adjustment of the calibration scale for H 2 translates into a change in the tropospheric burden. Furthermore, the ECMWF Reanalysis‐Interim (ERA‐Interim) data from the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) used in this study show slower vertical transport than the operational data used before. Consequently, more H 2 is removed by deposition. The deposition parametrization is updated because significant deposition fluxes for snow, water, and vegetation surfaces were calculated in our previous study. Timescales of 1–2 h are asserted for the transport of H 2 through the canopies of densely vegetated regions. The global scale variability of H 2 and δ [ D H 2 ] is well represented by the updated model. H 2 is slightly overestimated in the Southern Hemisphere because too little H 2 is removed by dry deposition to rainforests and savannahs. The variability in H 2 over Europe is further investigated using a high‐resolution model subdomain. It is shown that discrepancies between the model and the observations are mainly caused by the finite model resolution. The tropospheric burden is estimated at 165±8 Tg H 2 . The removal rates of H 2 by deposition and photochemical oxidation are estimated at 53±4 and 23±2 Tg H 2 /yr, resulting in a tropospheric lifetime of 2.2±0.2 year.