Export of North American Ozone Pollution to the North Atlantic Ocean

Parrish, D. D.; Holloway, J. S.; Trainer, M.; Murphy, P. C.; Fehsenfeld, F. C.; Forbes, G.

doi:10.1126/science.259.5100.1436

Cited by 297 publications

(206 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Similar difficulties in the definite detection of air pollution plumes from North America have been faced at other European stations, for example, at Porspoder on the French Atlantic coast [Dutot et al, 1997;Fenneteaux et al, 1999] or at Izaña on Tenerife to the west of Africa [Schmitt, 1994]. On the other hand, strong pollution signals were measured over the western North Atlantic [Parrish et al, 1993] under conditions of continental outflow from North America, and smaller signals were also found in the central North Atlantic [Parrish et al, 1998]. In the meantime, these contradictions are resolved, as it is now known that ICT takes place mainly in the upper troposphere [Stohl and Trickl, 1999;Yienger et al, 2000;Stohl et al, 2002a] after surface emissions have been transported upward in warm conveyor belts (WCBs) [Stohl, 2001] and/or by deep convection [Prados et al, 1999].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

A backward modeling study of intercontinental pollution transport using aircraft measurements

Stohl¹,

Forster²,

Eckhardt³

et al. 2003

J. Geophys. Res.

329

350

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[1] In this paper we present simulations with a Lagrangian particle dispersion model to study the intercontinental transport of pollution from North America during an aircraft measurement campaign over Europe. The model was used for both the flight planning and a detailed source analysis after the campaign, which is described here with examples from two episodes. Forward calculations of emission tracers from North America, Europe, and Asia were made in order to understand the transport processes. Both episodes were preceded by stagnant conditions over North America, leading to the accumulation of pollutants in the North American boundary layer. Both anthropogenic sources and, to a lesser extent, forest fire emissions contributed to this pollution, which was then exported by warm conveyor belts to the middle and upper troposphere, where it was transported rapidly to Europe. Concentrations of many trace gases (CO, NO y , CO 2 , acetone, and several volatile organic compounds; O 3 in one case) and of ambient atmospheric ions measured aboard the research aircraft were clearly enhanced in the pollution plumes compared to the conditions outside the plumes. Backward simulations with the particle model were introduced as an indispensable tool for a more detailed analysis of the plume's source region. They make trajectory analyses (which, to date, were mainly used to interpret aircraft measurement data) obsolete. Using an emission inventory, we could decompose the tracer mixing ratios at the receptors (i.e., along the flight tracks) into contributions from every grid cell of the inventory. For both plumes we found that emission sources contributing to the tracer concentrations over Europe were distributed over large areas in North America. In one case, sources in California, Texas, and Florida contributed almost equally, and smaller contributions were also made by other sources located between the Yucatan Peninsula and Canada. In the other case, sources in eastern North America, including moderate contributions from forest fires, were most important. The plume's maximum was mainly caused by anthropogenic emissions from the New York area. To our knowledge, this is the first case reported where a pollution plume from a megacity was reliably detected over another continent.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

A backward modeling study of intercontinental pollution transport using aircraft measurements

Stohl¹,

Forster²,

Eckhardt³

et al. 2003

J. Geophys. Res.

329

350

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show abstract

“…We show evidence that elevated 0 3 concentrations in the outflow of this WCB, found above the air intruded from the stratosphere and associated with high water vapor concentrations and very low values of potential vorticity, had their source in the North American boundary layer at the time of a photochemical 03 episode. Parrish et al [1993] Transport within a WCB clearly fulfills this requirement. This paper is organized as follows: In section 2 we introduce the observational data and the modeling tools.…”

Section: Paper Number 1999jd900803mentioning

confidence: 99%

A textbook example of long‐range transport: Simultaneous observation of ozone maxima of stratospheric and North American origin in the free troposphere over Europe

Stohl¹,

Trickl²

1999

J. Geophys. Res.

305

331

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Abstract. We describe an episode of a stratospheric intrusion into the free troposphere over Europe followed by a long-range transport of ozone from the North American boundary layer. Observational data showed the presence of a thin tongue of stratospheric air in the free troposphere for at least 36 hours. This filament was found in data from two ozone soundings and was recorded continuously for 26 hours by a high-resolution ozone lidar. The stratospheric air also intercepted two high Alpine summits, causing elevated ozone and beryllium 7 concentrations. Trajectory, particle dispersion model, and potential vorticity analyses confirmed the stratospheric nature of the tongue. In the lidar data, following the intrusion, pockets of elevated ozone concentrations (80-100 ppb) were found in the free troposphere close to the tropopause. The low potential vorticity values and high water vapor content in these ozone-rich pockets and trajectory analyses suggest that the ozone was photochemically produced in the boundary layer over eastern North America, followed by rapid uplifting in a warm conveyor belt over the Atlantic Ocean ahead of a frontal system. This was confirmed by ozone and water vapor measurements aboard commercial airliners crossing the warm conveyor belt. The air mass trajectories in both the stratospheric intrusion and the warm conveyor belt were tightly bundled, emphasizing the importance of the coherency of airstreams for long-range ozone transport. IntroductionOzone ( [1998] recently demonstrated the capacity of the above airstreams for causing strong gradients in trace gas concentrations near fronts. In this paper, on the basis of the example of a single episode, we explore the significance of these airstreams for long-range 0 3 transport.Mixing

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“…Although the O3 CO correlation may become obscured by including different processes and air mass types, the monthly O3 CO correlation often provides a valuable test for model predictions of anthropogenic influence on O3 under prevailing synoptic-scale meteorological conditions. Parrish et al (1993) first introduced the use of the O3/ CO ratios to identify O3 production from continental emissions. They focused on O3 formation in continental outflow where the air masses were largely dominated by the North American sources, so that CO changes could be attributed to local emissions and O3 changes to subsequent chemistry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ozone-CO Correlations in Siberian Wildfire Plumes Observed at Rishiri Island

Tanimoto

Matsumoto

Uematsu

2008

SOLA

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We used ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO) measurements conducted at Rishiri Island, a remote surface site located in northern Japan to characterize impacts of boreal forest fires in Siberia on photochemical O3 formation. Hourly O3 observations during severe fire seasons in 1998, 2002, and 2003 were examined based on large enhancement in the CO mixing ratios and backward trajectories. In total, we identified sixteen episodes impacted by Siberian biomass burning. Correlations of O3 to CO in individual plumes were significant in eight wildfire plumes. The relative enhancement of O3 to CO quantified in these fire plumes ranged from slightly negative to up to~0.4, depending on episodes. Two episodes in 2002 and 2003 suggested that O3 formation in wildfire-polluted plumes was comparable to the magnitude typically observed in industrially-polluted air masses from the Asian continent. Possible physical, chemical, and biogeochemical factors leading to different O3 to CO ratios were presented.

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Export of North American Ozone Pollution to the North Atlantic Ocean

Cited by 297 publications

References 24 publications

A backward modeling study of intercontinental pollution transport using aircraft measurements

A backward modeling study of intercontinental pollution transport using aircraft measurements

A textbook example of long‐range transport: Simultaneous observation of ozone maxima of stratospheric and North American origin in the free troposphere over Europe

Ozone-CO Correlations in Siberian Wildfire Plumes Observed at Rishiri Island

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