Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 9 3 2009 10.5194/acpd-9-13889-2009 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/13889/2009/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/13889/2009/acpd-9-13889-2009.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/13889/2009/acpd-9-13889-2009.pdf 13889 13916 2009-06-25 Clouds, photolysis and regional tropospheric ozone budgets A. Voulgarakis avoulgarakis@giss.nasa.gov O. Wild N. H. Savage G. D. Carver J. A. Pyle Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Cambridge, UK Lancaster Environment Centre, University of Lancaster, UK Met Office, Exeter, UK now at: Columbia University, Center for Climate Systems Research, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, USA We use a three-dimensional chemical transport model to examine the shortwave radiative effects of clouds on the tropospheric ozone budget. In addition to looking at changes in global concentrations as previous studies have done, we examine changes in ozone chemical production and loss caused by clouds and how these vary in different parts of the troposphere. On a global scale, we find that clouds have a modest effect on ozone chemistry, but on a regional scale their role is much more significant, with the size of the response dependent on the region. The largest averaged changes in chemical budgets (±10–14%) are found in the marine troposphere, where cloud optical depths are high. We demonstrate that cloud effects are small on average in the middle troposphere because this is a transition region between reduction and enhancement in photolysis rates. We show that increases in boundary layer ozone due to clouds are driven by large-scale changes in downward ozone transport from higher in the troposphere rather than by decreases in in-situ ozone chemical loss rates. Increases in upper tropospheric ozone are caused by higher production rates due to backscattering of radiation and consequent increases in photolysis rates, mainly J(NO₂). The global radiative effect of clouds on isoprene is stronger than on ozone. Tropospheric isoprene lifetime increases by 7% when taking clouds into account. We compare the importance of clouds in contributing to uncertainties in the global ozone budget with the role of other radiatively-important factors. The budget is most sensitive to the overhead ozone column, while surface albedo and clouds have smaller effects. However, uncertainty in representing the spatial distribution of clouds may lead to a large sensitivity on regional scales. Barth, M C., Hess, P G., and Madronich, S.: Effect of marine boundary layer clouds on tropospheric chemistry as analyzed in a regional chemistry transport model, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D11), 4126, \doi10.1029/2001JD000468, 2002. 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