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17367
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2007-11-28
Rapid convective outflow from the U.S. to the upper troposphere over the North Atlantic during the NASA INTEX-NA airborne campaign: flight 13 case study
S. Y. Kim
sk@gust.sr.unh.edu
R. Talbot
H. Mao
D. Blake
S. Vay
H. Fuelberg
Climate Change Research Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Morse Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA
Department of Chemistry, University of California – Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
Chemistry and Dynamics Branch, NASA Langley Res. Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Department of Meteorology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
A case study of convective outflow from the United States
(U.S.) was examined using airborne measurements from NASA DC-8 flight 13
during the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment – North America
(INTEX-NA). Mixing ratios of methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) and carbon monoxide (CO) at
8–11 km altitude over the North Atlantic were elevated to 1843 ppbv and
134 ppbv respectively, while those of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) and carbonyl
sulfide (COS) were reduced to 372.4 ppmv and 411 pptv respectively. In this
region, urban and industrial influence was evidenced by elevated mixing
ratios and good linear relationships between urban and industrial tracers
compared to North Atlantic background air. Moreover, low mixing ratios and a
good correlation between COS and CO<sub>2</sub> showed a fingerprint of
terrestrial uptake and minimal dilution during rapid transport over a 1–2
day time period. Analysis of synoptic conditions, backward trajectories, and
photochemical aging estimates based on C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>8</sub>/C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>
strongly suggested that elevated anthropogenic tracers in the upper
troposphere of the flight region were the result of fast transport via
convective uplifting of boundary layer air over the southeastern U.S. This
mechanism is supported by the similar slopes values of linear correlations
between long-lived (months) anthropogenic tracers (e.g., C<sub>2</sub>Cl<sub>4</sub> and
CHCl<sub>3</sub>) from the flight region and the planetary boundary layer in the
southeastern U.S. In addition, the aircraft measurements suggest that
outflow from the U.S. augmented the entire tropospheric column at
mid-latitudes over the North Atlantic. Overall, the flight 13 data
demonstrate a pervasive impact of U.S. anthropogenic emissions on the
troposphere over the North Atlantic.
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