Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 9 3 2009 10.5194/acpd-9-11287-2009 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/11287/2009/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/11287/2009/acpd-9-11287-2009.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/11287/2009/acpd-9-11287-2009.pdf 11287 11297 2009-05-05 Technical Note: Ensuring consistent, global measurements of short-lived halocarbon gases in the ocean and atmosphere J. H. Butler T. G. Bell thomas.bell@uea.ac.uk B. D. Hall B. Quack L. J. Carpenter J. Williams Global Monitoring Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA Laboratory for Global Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry (LGMAC), School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK Marine Biogeochemie-Chemische Ozeanographie, Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR), Kiel, Germany Department of Chemistry, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany Short-lived halocarbons are significant sources of reactive halogen in the troposphere and likely the lower stratosphere. Quantifying ambient concentrations in the surface ocean and atmosphere is essential for understanding the impact of fluxes of these gases on marine boundary layer oxidation and lower stratospheric ozone-depletion processes. Despite the body of literature increasing substantially over recent years, calibration issues complicate comparison of results and limit the utility of building larger-scale databases that would enable further development of the science (e.g. sea-air flux quantification, model validation, etc.). With this in mind, thirty-two scientists representing eight nations and from both atmospheric and oceanic halocarbon communities gathered in London in February 2008 to discuss the scientific issues and plan an international effort toward a common calibration scale. Here, we discuss the outputs from this meeting, suggest the compounds that should be targeted initially, identify opportunities for beginning calibration and comparison efforts, and make recommendations for ways to improve the comparability of previous and future measurements. Butler, J. H., King, D. B., Lobert, J. M., Montzka, S. A., Yvon-Lewis, S. A., Hall, B. D., Warwick, N. J., Mondeel, D. J., Aydin, M., and Elkins, J. 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