The biogeochemical sulfur cycle in the marine boundary layer over the Northeast Pacific Ocean

The major components of the marine boundary layer biogeochemical sulfur cycle were measured simultaneously onshore and off the coast of Washington State, U.S.A. during May 1987. Seawater dimethylsulfide (DMS) concentrations on the continental shelf were strongly influenced by coastal upwelling. Concentration further offshore were typical of summer values (2.2 nmol/L) at this latitude. Although seawater DMS concentrations were high on the biologically productive continental shelf (2–12 nmol/L), this region had no measurable effect on atmospheric DMS concentrations. Atmospheric DMS concentrations (0.1–12 nmol/m³), however, were extremely dependent upon wind speed and boundary layer height. Although there appeared to be an appreciable input of non-sea-salt sulfate to the marine boundary layer from the free troposphere, the local flux of DMS from the ocean to the atmosphere was sufficient to balance the remainder of the sulfur budget.     

黄河源高寒草原下垫面土壤冻融过程中陆-气间的水热交换特征分析

高寒草原水热交换的季节性特征显著,土壤冻融过程对地-气水热交换有着重要的影响.本文利用黄河源区汤岔玛小流域2014年5月至2015年5月陆面过程观测数据,将土壤冻融过程划分为完全融化(TT)和完全冻结(FF)两种状态与融冻(T-F)和冻融(F-T)两个过程,并分析了期间高寒草原下垫面净辐射、感热通量、潜热通量和地表热通...     

Trace gas measurements during aircraft flights in the tropopause region over Europe and North Africa

During aircraft flights in May 1981 from Munich (40°N) to north of the Spitsbergen Islands (82°N) and to Monrovia, Liberia (6°N), air samples were obtained in the altitude range of 8 to 11 km and during the ascents and descents near the airports. These samples have been analyzed for the trace gas mixing ratios of CH₄, CO and N₂O. The results of these analyses are presented and discussed.The results provide new evidence of tropospheric-stratospheric exchange events in the vicinity of the subpolar and subtropical tropopause foldings and possibly show a case of transport of CO-enriched air in the upper troposphere above the North Atlantic Ocean.     

A microscale three-dimensional urban energy balance model for studying surface temperatures

A microscale three-dimensional (3-D) urban energy balance model, Temperatures of Urban Facets in 3-D (TUF-3D), is developed to predict urban surface temperatures for a variety of surface geometries and properties, weather conditions, and solar angles. The surface is composed of plane-parallel facets: roofs, walls, and streets, which are further sub-divided into identical square patches, resulting in a 3-D raster-type model geometry. The model code is structured into radiation, conduction and convection sub-models. The radiation sub-model uses the radiosity approach and accounts for multiple reflections and shading of direct solar radiation. Conduction is solved by finite differencing of the heat conduction equation, and convection is modelled by empirically relating patch heat transfer coefficients to the momentum forcing and the building morphology. The radiation and conduction sub-models are tested individually against measurements, and the complete model is tested against full-scale urban surface temperature and energy balance observations. Modelled surface temperatures perform well at both the facet-average and the sub-facet scales given the precision of the observations and the uncertainties in the model inputs. The model has several potential applications, such as the calculation of radiative loads, and the investigation of effective thermal anisotropy (when combined with a sensor-view model).     

The thermodynamic structure atop a penetrating convective thunderstorm

The thermodynamic structure on top of a numerically simulated severe storm is examined to explain the satellite observed plume formation above thunderstorm anvils. The same mechanism also explains the formation of jumping cirrus observed by Fujita on board of a research aircraft. A three-dimensional, non-hydrostatic cloud model is used to perform numerical simulation of a supercell that occurred in Montana in 1981. Analysis of the model results shows that both the plume and the jumping cirrus phenomena are produced by the high instability and breaking of the gravity waves excited by the strong convection inside the storm. These mechanisms dramatically enhance the turbulent diffusion process and cause some moisture to detach from the storm cloud and jump into the stratosphere. The thermodynamic structure in terms of the potential temperature isotherms above the simulated thunderstorm is examined to reveal the instability and wave breaking structure. The plumes and jumping cirrus phenomena represent an irreversible transport mechanism of materials from the troposphere to the stratosphere that may have global climatic implications.     

The effect of mountainous topography on moisture exchange between the “surface” and the free atmosphere

Typical numerical weather and climate prediction models apply parameterizations to describe the subgrid-scale exchange of moisture, heat and momentum between the surface and the free atmosphere. To a large degree, the underlying assumptions are based on empirical knowledge obtained from measurements in the atmospheric boundary layer over flat and homogeneous topography. It is, however, still unclear what happens if the topography is complex and steep. Not only is the applicability of classical turbulence schemes questionable in principle over such terrain, but mountains additionally induce vertical fluxes on the meso-γ scale. Examples are thermally or mechanically driven valley winds, which are neither resolved nor parameterized by climate models but nevertheless contribute to vertical exchange. Attempts to quantify these processes and to evaluate their impact on climate simulations have so far been scarce. Here, results from a case study in the Riviera Valley in southern Switzerland are presented. In previous work, measurements from the MAP-Riviera field campaign have been used to evaluate and configure a high-resolution large-eddy simulation code (ARPS). This model is here applied with a horizontal grid spacing of 350 m to detect and quantify the relevant exchange processes between the valley atmosphere (i.e. the ground “surface” in a coarse model) and the free atmosphere aloft. As an example, vertical export of moisture is evaluated for three fair-weather summer days. The simulations show that moisture exchange with the free atmosphere is indeed no longer governed by turbulent motions alone. Other mechanisms become important, such as mass export due to topographic narrowing or the interaction of thermally driven cross-valley circulations. Under certain atmospheric conditions, these topographical-related mechanisms exceed the “classical” turbulent contributions a coarse model would see by several times. The study shows that conventional subgrid-scale parameterizations can indeed be far off from reality if applied over complex topography, and that large-eddy simulations could provide a helpful tool for their improvement.     

Investigating a Hierarchy of Eulerian Closure Models for Scalar Transfer Inside Forested Canopies

Modelling the transfer of heat, water vapour, and CO₂ between the biosphere and the atmosphere is made difficult by the complex two-way interaction between leaves and their immediate microclimate. When simulating scalar sources and sinks inside canopies on seasonal, inter-annual, or forest development time scales, the so-called well-mixed assumption (WMA) of mean concentration (i.e. vertically constant inside the canopy but dynamically evolving in time) is often employed. The WMA eliminates the need to model how vegetation alters its immediate microclimate, which necessitates formulations that utilize turbulent transport theories. Here, two inter-related questions pertinent to the WMA for modelling scalar sources, sinks, and fluxes at seasonal to inter-annual time scales are explored: (1) if the WMA is to be replaced so as to resolve this two-way interaction, how detailed must the turbulent transport model be? And (2) what are the added predictive skills gained by resolving the two-way interaction vis-à-vis other uncertainties such as seasonal variations in physiological parameters. These two questions are addressed by simulating multi-year mean scalar concentration and eddy-covariance scalar flux measurements collected in a Loblolly pine (P. taeda L.) plantation near Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A. using turbulent transport models ranging from K-theory (or first-order closure) to third-order closure schemes. The multi-layer model calculations with these closure schemes were contrasted with model calculations employing the WMA. These comparisons suggested that (i) among the three scalars, sensible heat flux predictions are most biased with respect to eddy-covariance measurements when using the WMA, (ii) first-order closure schemes are sufficient to reproduce the seasonal to inter-annual variations in scalar fluxes provided the canonical length scale of turbulence is properly specified, (iii) second-order closure models best agree with measured mean scalar concentration (and temperature) profiles inside the canopy as well as scalar fluxes above the canopy, (iv) there are no clear gains in predictive skills when using third-order closure schemes over their second-order closure counterparts. At inter-annual time scales, biases in modelled scalar fluxes incurred by using the WMA exceed those incurred when correcting for the seasonal amplitude in the maximum carboxylation capacity (V _{cmax, 25}) provided its mean value is unbiased. The role of local thermal stratification inside the canopy and possible computational simplifications in decoupling scalar transfer from the generation of the flow statistics are also discussed.

“The tree, tilting its leaves to capture bullets of light; inhaling, exhaling; its many thousand stomata breathing, creating the air”. Ruth Stone, 2002, In the Next Galaxy

     

Kinetics of the Gas-Phase Reactions of OH Radicals, NO3 Radicals and O3 with Three C7-Carbonyls Formed From The Atmospheric Reactions of Myrcene, Ocimene and Terpinolene

Rate constants for the gas-phase reactions of OH radicals, NO₃ radicals and O₃ with the C₇-carbonyl compounds 4-methylenehex-5-enal [CH₂=CHC(=CH₂)CH₂CH₂CHO], (3Z)- and (3E)-4-methylhexa-3,5-dienal [CH₂=CHC(CH₃)=CHCH₂CHO] and 4-methylcyclohex-3-en-1-one, which are products of the atmospheric degradations of myrcene, Z- and E-ocimene and terpinolene, respectively, have been measured at 296 ± 2 K and atmospheric pressure of air using relative rate methods. The rate constants obtained (in cm³ molecule^–1 s^–1 units) were: for 4-methylenehex-5-enal, (1.55 ± 0.15) × 10^–10, (4.75 ± 0.35) × 10^–13 and (1.46 ± 0.12) × 10^–17 for the OH radical, NO₃ radical and O₃ reactions, respectively; for (3Z)-4-methylhexa-3,5-dienal: (1.61 ± 0.35) × 10^–10, (2.17 ± 0.30) × 10^–12, and (4.13 ± 0.81) × 10^–17 for the OH radical, NO₃ radical and O₃ reactions, respectively; for (3E)-4-methylhexa-3,5-dienal: (2.52 ± 0.65) × 10^–10, (1.75 ± 0.27) × 10^–12, and (5.36 ± 0.28) × 10^–17 for the OH radical, NO₃ radical and O₃ reactions, respectively; and for 4-methylcyclohex-3-en-1-one: (1.10 ± 0.19) × 10^–10, (1.81 ± 0.35) × 10^–12, and (6.98 ± 0.40) × 10^–17 for the OH radical, NO₃ radical and O₃ reactions, respectively. These carbonyl compounds are all reactive in the troposphere, with daytime reaction with the OH radical and nighttime reaction with the NO₃ radical being predicted to dominate as loss processes and with estimated lifetimes of about an hour or less.     

Direct Observations of Atmospheric Transport and Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange from High-Precision Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide Profile Measurements

The balloon-borne Aircore campaign was conducted in Inner Mongolia,China,on June 13 and 14 2018,which detected carbon dioxide(CO_2) and carbon monoxide(CO) profiles from surface to 24 km,showing strong positive and negative correlations between 8 km and 10 km on 13 and 14 June,respectively.Backward trajectories,meteorological analyses,and CO_2 horizontal distributions were combined to interpret this phenomenon.The results indicated that the source region experienced a stratospheric intrusion and exhibited a large horizontal CO_2 gradient;namely,lower CO concentrations corresponded to higher CO_2 concentrations and vice versa.The laminar structure with multiple origins resulted in the highly negative correlation between CO_2 and CO in the upper troposphere on 14 June.The contribution of stratospheric air mass to the upper troposphere and that of tropospheric air mass to the lower stratosphere were 26.7% and24.3%,respectively,based on a mass balance approach.Another interesting phenomenon is that CO_2 and CO concentrations increased substantially at approximately 8 km on 13 June.An analysis based on the backward trajectory implied that the air mass possibly came from anthropogenic sources.The slope of CO_2/CO representing the anthropogenic sources was 87.3 ppm ppm~(-1).In addition,the CO_2 profile showed that there was a large CO_2 gradient of 4 ppm km-1 within the boundary layer on 13 June,and this gradient disappeared on 14 June.     

Effects of surface flux parameterization on the numerically simulated intensity and structure of Typhoon Morakot (2009)

The effects of surface flux parameterizations on tropical cyclone(TC) intensity and structure are investigated using the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF-ARW) modeling system with high-resolution simulations of Typhoon Morakot(2009).Numerical experiments are designed to simulate Typhoon Morakot(2009) with different formulations of surface exchange coefficients for enthalpy(C_K) and momentum(C_D) transfers,including those from recent observational studies based on in situ aircraft data collected in Atlantic hurricanes.The results show that the simulated intensity and structure are sensitive to C_K and C_D,but the simulated track is not.Consistent with previous studies,the simulated storm intensity is found to be more sensitive to the ratio of C_K/C_D than to C_K or C_D alone.The pressure-wind relationship is also found to be influenced by the exchange coefficients,consistent with recent numerical studies.This paper emphasizes the importance of C_D and C_K on TC structure simulations.The results suggest that C_D and C_K have a large impact on surface wind and flux distributions,boundary layer heights,the warm core,and precipitation.Compared to available observations,the experiment with observed C_D and C_K generally simulated better intensity and structure than the other experiments,especially over the ocean.The reasons for the structural differences among the experiments with different C_D and C_K setups are discussed in the context of TC dynamics and thermodynamics.