References

ACPD

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions

ACPD

1680-7375

Copernicus GmbH

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/acpd-6-13111-2006

Behaviour of tracer diffusion in simple atmospheric boundary layer models

Anderson

P. S.

British Antarctic Survey, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

13 12 2006

6 6 13111 13138

This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/6/13111/2006/acpd-6-13111-2006.html

The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/6/13111/2006/acpd-6-13111-2006.pdf

1-D profiles and time series from an idealised atmospheric boundary layer model are presented, which show agreement with measurements of polar photogenic NO and NO<sub>2</sub>. Diffusion models are increasingly being used as the framework for studying tropospheric air chemistry dynamics. Models based on standard boundary layer diffusivity profiles have an intrinsic behaviour that is not necessarily intuitive, due to the variation of turbulent diffusivity with height. The relatively simple model provides both a programming and a conceptual tool in the analysis of observed trace gas evolution. A time scale inherent in the model can be tuned by fitting model time series to observations. This scale is then applicable to the more physically simple but chemically complex zeroth order or box models of chemical interactions.

References 1

Ambach, W.: The influence of cloudiness on the net radiation balance of a snow surface with high albedo, J. Glaciol., 13, 73–84, 1974.

Davis, D. D., Eisele, F., Chen, G., et al.: An overview of ISCAT 2000, Atmos. Environ., 38(32), 5363–5373 2004.

Dibb, J. E. and Jaffrezo, J. L.: Air-snow exchange investigations at Summit, Greenland: An overview, J. Geophys. Res. 102, 26 795–26 807, 1997.

Jones, A. E., Anderson, P. S., Wolff E. W., Turner, J., Rankin, A. M., and Colwell, S. R.: A role for newly forming sea ice in springtime polar tropospheric ozone loss? Observational evidence from Halley station, Antarctica, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D08306, doi:10.1029/2005JD006566, 2006.

King, J. C. and Anderson, P. S.: Heat and Water Vapour fluxes and Scalar Roughness Lengths over an Antarctic Ice Shelf, Bound.-Layer Meteorol., 69, 101–121, 1994.

King, J. C., Argentini, S. A., and Anderson, P. S.: Contrasts between summer time surface energy balance and boundary layer structure at Dome C and Halley stations, Antarctica, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D02105, doi:10.1029/2005JD006130, 2006.

Mahrt, L.: Stratified Atmospheric Boundary Layers, Bound.-Layer Meteorol., 90, 375–396, 1998.

Warren, S. G.: Optical Properties of Snow, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 20, 67–89, 1982.