A trajectory-based estimate of the tropospheric ozone column using the residual method

M. R. Schoeberl (1) , J. R. Ziemke (2) , B. Bojkov (1, 2) , N. Livesey (3) , B. Duncan (2) , S. Strahan (2) , L. Froidevaux (3) , S. Kulawik (3) , P. K. Bhartia (1) , S. Chandra (2) , P. F. Levelt (4) , J. C. Witte (5) , A. M. Thompson (6) , E. Cuevas (7) , A. Redondas (7) , D. W. Tarasick (8) , J. Davies (8) , G. Bodeker (9) , G. Hansen (10) , B. J. Johnson (11) , S. J. Oltmans (11) , H. Vömel (12) , M. Allaart (4) , H. Kelder (4) , M. Newchurch (13) , Sophie Godin-Beekmann (14) , Gérard Ancellet (14) , H. Claude (15) , S. B. Andersen (16) , E. Kyrö (17) , M. Parrondos (18) , M. Yela (18) , G. Zablocki (19) , D. Moore (20) , H. Dier (21) , P. von Der Gathen (22) , P. Viatte (23) , R. Stübi (23) , B. Calpini (23) , P. Skrivankova (24) , V. Dorokhov (25) , H. de Backer (26) , F. J. Schmidlin (1) , G. Coetzee (27) , M. Fujiwara (28) , V. Thouret (29) , Françoise Posny (30) , G. Morris (31) , J. Merrill (32) , C. P. Leong (33) , G. Koenig-Langlo (22) , E. Joseph (34)

1 GSFC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
2 GEST - Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center
3 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4 KNMI - Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
5 SSAI - Science Systems and Applications, Inc. [Lanham]
6 PennState Meteorology Department
7 IARC - Izaña Atmospheric Research Center
8 Environment Canada (Downsview)
9 NIWA - National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research [Lauder]
10 NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research
11 ESRL - NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
12 CIRES - Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
13 Department of Atmospheric Science [Huntsville]
14 SA - Service d'aéronomie
15 MOHp - Meteorologisches Observatorium Hohenpeißenberg
16 DMI - Danish Meteorological Institute
17 Arctic Research Centre of Finnish Meteorological Institute
18 Laboratorio de Atmosfera [Madrid]
19 Centre of Aerology [Poland]
20 United Kingdom Met Office [Exeter]
21 MOL-RAO - Lindenberg Meteorological Observatory - Richard Assmann Observatory
22 AWI - Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung = Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research = Institut Alfred-Wegener pour la recherche polaire et marine
23 Payerne Aerological Station
24 CHMI - Czech Hydrometeorological Institute
25 CAO - Central Aerological Observatory
26 IRM - Institut Royal Météorologique de Belgique [Bruxelles] - Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium
27 Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marine and Coastal Management
28 Graduate School of Environmental Science [Sapporo]
29 LAERO - Laboratoire d'aérologie
30 LPA - Laboratoire de physique de l'atmosphère
31 Department of Physics and Astronomy [Valparaiso]
32 Graduate School of Oceanography [Narragansett]
33 MetMalaysia - Malaysian Meteorological Department
34 Howard University

We estimate the tropospheric column ozone using a forward trajectory model to increase the horizontal resolution of the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) derived stratospheric column ozone. Subtracting the MLS stratospheric column from Ozone Monitoring Instrument total column measurements gives the trajectory enhanced tropospheric ozone residual (TTOR). Because of different tropopause definitions, we validate the basic residual technique by computing the 200-hPa-to-surface column and comparing it to the same product from ozonesondes and Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer measurements. Comparisons show good agreement in the tropics and reasonable agreement at middle latitudes, but there is a persistent low bias in the TTOR that may be due to a slight high bias in MLS stratospheric column. With the improved stratospheric column resolution, we note a strong correlation of extratropical tropospheric ozone column anomalies with probable troposphere-stratosphere exchange events or folds. The folds can be identified by their colocation with strong horizontal tropopause gradients. TTOR anomalies due to folds may be mistaken for pollution events since folds often occur in the Atlantic and Pacific pollution corridors. We also compare the 200-hPa-to-surface column with Global Modeling Initiative chemical model estimates of the same quantity. While the tropical comparisons are good, we note that chemical model variations in 200-hPa-to-surface column at middle latitudes are much smaller than seen in the TTOR.

Mots clés: pollution; tropospheric ozone; air quality

Domaines: Physique Atmosphérique et Océanique [physics.ao-ph]

M. R. Schoeberl, J. R. Ziemke, B. Bojkov, N. Livesey, B. Duncan, et al.. A trajectory-based estimate of the tropospheric ozone column using the residual method. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2007, 112 (24), pp.D24S49. ⟨10.1029/2007JD008773⟩. ⟨hal-00199904⟩