Open AccessOzone, aerosol, potential vorticity, and trace gas trends observed at high‐latitudes over North America from February to May 2000
Author(s) -
Browell Edward V.,
Hair Johnathan W.,
Butler Carolyn F.,
Grant William B.,
DeYoung Russell J.,
Fenn Marta A.,
Brackett Vince G.,
Clayton Marian B.,
Brasseur Lorraine A.,
Harper David B.,
Ridley Brian A.,
Klonecki Andrzej A.,
Hess Peter G.,
Emmons Louisa K.,
Tie Xuexi,
Atlas Elliot L.,
Cantrell Christopher A.,
Wimmers Anthony J.,
Blake Donald R.,
Coffey Michael T.,
Hannigan James W.,
Dibb Jack E.,
Talbot Robert W.,
Flocke Frank,
Weinheimer Andrew J.,
Fried Alan,
Wert Bryan,
Snow Julie A.,
Lefer Barry L.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2001jd001390
Subject(s) - aerosol , troposphere , tropopause , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , ozone , climatology , latitude , stratosphere , trace gas , atmosphere (unit) , middle latitudes , meteorology , geology , geography , geodesy
Ozone (O 3 ) and aerosol scattering ratio profiles were obtained from airborne lidar measurements on thirty‐eight flights over seven deployments covering the latitudes of 40°–85°N between 4 February and 23 May 2000 as part of the Tropospheric Ozone Production about the Spring Equinox (TOPSE) field experiment. Each deployment started from Broomfield, Colorado, with bases in Churchill, Canada, and on most deployments, Thule Air Base, Greenland. Nadir and zenith lidar O 3 measurements were combined with in situ O 3 measurements to produce vertically continuous O 3 profiles from near the surface to above the tropopause. Potential vorticity (PV) distributions along the flight track were obtained from several different meteorological analyses. Ozone, aerosol, and PV distributions were used together to identify the presence of pollution plumes and stratospheric intrusions. Ozone was found to increase in the middle free troposphere (4–6 km) at high latitudes (60°–85°N) by an average of 4.6 ppbv/mo (parts per billion by volume per month) from about 54 ppbv in early February to over 72 ppbv in mid‐May. The average aerosol scattering ratios at 1064 nm in the same region increased rapidly at an average rate of 0.36/mo from about 0.38 to over 1.7. Ozone and aerosol scattering were highly correlated over the entire field experiment, and PV and beryllium ( 7 Be) showed no significant positive trend over the same period. The primary cause of the observed O 3 increase in the mid troposphere at high latitudes was determined to be the photochemical production of O 3 in pollution plumes with less than 20% of the increase from stratospherically‐derived O 3 .