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10.5194/acpd-8-2085-2008
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2085
2127
2008-02-05
Evaluation of the atmospheric transport in a GCM using radon measurements: sensitivity to cumulus convection parameterization
K. Zhang
kai.zhang@zmaw.de
H. Wan
M. Zhang
B. Wang
LASG, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modelling, Hamburg, Germany
LAPC, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
The radioactive species radon (<sup>222</sup>Rn) has long been
used as a test tracer for the numerical simulation of large scale
transport processes. In this study, radon transport experiments
are carried out using an atmospheric GCM with a finite-difference
dynamical core, the van Leer type FFSL advection algorithm and two
state-of-the-art cumulus convection parameterization schemes.
Measurements of surface concentration and vertical distribution of
radon collected from literature are used as references in model
evaluation.
<br></br>
The simulated radon concentrations using both convection schemes
turn out to be consistent with earlier studies with many other
models. Comparison with measurements indicates that at the
locations where significant seasonal variations are observed in
reality, the model can reproduce both the monthly mean surface
radon concentration and the annual cycle quite well. At those
sites where the seasonal variation is not large, the model is able
to give a correct magnitude of the annual mean. In East Asia,
where radon simulations are rarely reported in literature,
detailed analysis shows that our results compare reasonably well
with the observations.
<br></br>
The most evident changes caused by the use of a different
convection scheme are found in the vertical distribution of the
tracer. The scheme associated with a weaker upward transport gives
higher radon concentration up to about 6 km above the surface, and
lower values in higher altitudes. In the lower part of the
atmosphere results from this scheme does not agree as well with
the measurements as the other scheme. Differences from 6 km to the
model top are even larger, although we are not yet able to tell
which simulation is better due to the lack of observations at such
high altitudes.
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