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Moist synoptic transport of CO 2 along the mid‐latitude storm track
Author(s) -
Parazoo N. C.,
Denning A. S.,
Berry J. A.,
Wolf A.,
Randall D. A.,
Kawa S. R.,
Pauluis O.,
Doney S. C.
Publication year - 2011
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 - 10.1029/2011gl047238
Subject(s) - climatology , seasonality , atmospheric sciences , latitude , environmental science , storm track , anticyclone , arctic , eddy , storm , zonal and meridional , polar vortex , extratropical cyclone , winter storm , polar , geology , meteorology , troposphere , oceanography , geography , statistics , mathematics , geodesy , turbulence , physics , astronomy
Atmospheric mixing ratios of CO 2 are strongly seasonal in the Arctic due to mid‐latitude transport. Here we analyze the seasonal influence of moist synoptic storms by diagnosing CO 2 transport from a global model on moist isentropes (to represent parcel trajectories through stormtracks) and parsing transport into eddy and mean components. During winter when northern plants respire, warm moist air, high in CO 2 , is swept poleward into the polar vortex, while cold dry air, low in CO 2 , that had been transported into the polar vortex earlier in the year is swept equatorward. Eddies reduce seasonality in mid‐latitudes by ∼50% of NEE (∼100% of fossil fuel) while amplifying seasonality at high latitudes. Transport along stormtracks is correlated with rising, moist, cloudy air, which systematically hides this CO 2 transport from satellites. We recommend that (1) regional inversions carefully account for meridional transport and (2) inversion models represent moist and frontal processes with high fidelity.