An observationally constrained evaluation of the oxidative capacity in the tropical western Pacific troposphere

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dc.contributor.authorNicely, Julie M
dc.contributor.authorAnderson, Daniel C.
dc.contributor.authorCanty, Timothy P.
dc.contributor.authorSalawitch, Ross J.
dc.contributor.authorWolfe, Glenn M.
dc.contributor.authorApel, Eric C.
dc.contributor.authorArnold, Steve R.
dc.contributor.authorAtlas, Elliot L.
dc.contributor.authorBlake, Nicola J.
dc.contributor.authorBresch, James F.
dc.contributor.authorCampos, Teresa L.
dc.contributor.authorDickerson, Russell R.
dc.contributor.authorDuncan, Bryan
dc.contributor.authorEmmons, Louisa K.
dc.contributor.authorEvans, Matthew J.
dc.contributor.authorFernandez, Rafael P.
dc.contributor.authorFlemming, Johannes
dc.contributor.authorHall, Samuel R.
dc.contributor.authorHanisco, Thomas F.
dc.contributor.authorHonomichl, Shawn B.
dc.contributor.authorHornbrook, Rebecca S.
dc.contributor.authorHuijnen, Vincent
dc.contributor.authorKaser, Lisa
dc.contributor.authorKinnison, Douglas E.
dc.contributor.authorLamarque, Jean‐Francois
dc.contributor.authorMao, Jingqiu
dc.contributor.authorMonks, Sarah A.
dc.contributor.authorMontzka, Denise D.
dc.contributor.authorPan, Laura L.
dc.contributor.authorRiemer, Daniel D.
dc.contributor.authorSaiz‐Lopez, Alfonso
dc.contributor.authorSteenrod, Stephen D.
dc.contributor.authorH. Stell, Meghan
dc.contributor.authorTilmes, Simone
dc.contributor.authorTurquety, Solene
dc.contributor.authorUllmann, Kirk
dc.contributor.authorWeinheimer, Andrew J.
dc.date.accessioned2020-09-18T18:29:33Z
dc.date.available2020-09-18T18:29:33Z
dc.date.issued2016-06-05
dc.description.abstractHydroxyl radical (OH) is the main daytime oxidant in the troposphere and determines the atmospheric lifetimes of many compounds. We use aircraft measurements of O₃, H₂O, NO, and other species from the Convective Transport of Active Species in the Tropics (CONTRAST) field campaign, which occurred in the tropical western Pacific (TWP) during January–February 2014, to constrain a photochemical box model and estimate concentrations of OH throughout the troposphere. We find that tropospheric column OH (OHCOL) inferred from CONTRAST observations is 12 to 40% higher than found in chemical transport models (CTMs), including CAM‐chem‐SD run with 2014 meteorology as well as eight models that participated in POLMIP (2008 meteorology). Part of this discrepancy is due to a clear‐sky sampling bias that affects CONTRAST observations; accounting for this bias and also for a small difference in chemical mechanism results in our empirically based value of OHCOL being 0 to 20% larger than found within global models. While these global models simulate observed O₃ reasonably well, they underestimate NOx (NO + NO₂) by a factor of 2, resulting in OHCOL ~30% lower than box model simulations constrained by observed NO. Underestimations by CTMs of observed CH₃CHO throughout the troposphere and of HCHO in the upper troposphere further contribute to differences between our constrained estimates of OH and those calculated by CTMs. Finally, our calculations do not support the prior suggestion of the existence of a tropospheric OH minimum in the TWP, because during January–February 2014 observed levels of O₃ and NO were considerably larger than previously reported values in the TWP.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipWe thank T. Robinson and O. Shieh forproviding meteorology forecasts in thefield and the pilots and crew of theCONTRAST Gulfstream V aircraft for theirdedication and professionalism. Wethank the three anonymous reviewersfor their constructive comments thatimproved this manuscript. CONTRASTwas funded by the National ScienceFoundation. We would like to acknowl-edge high-performance computingsupport from Yell owstone (ark:/85065/d7wd3xhc) provided by NCAR’sComputational and Information SystemsLaboratory. The National Center forAtmospheric Research is sponsored bythe National Science Foundation. Workconducted at the University of Marylandwas supported, in part, by the NASAModeling and Analysis Program. G.M.W.,D.C.A., and T.F.H. received support forthe NASA Upper Atmospheric ResearchProgram under NNH12ZDA001N-UACO.JM acknowledges support from theNOAA Climate Program Office grantNA13OAR4310071. CONTRAST data arepublicly available for all researchers andcan be obtained at http://data.eol.ucar.edu/master_list/?project=CONTRAST.The CAM-Chem-SD and POLMIP modelsimulations are available upon requestto the authors (julie.m.nicely@nasa.gov)en_US
dc.description.urihttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2016JD025067en_US
dc.format.extent28 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2zkro-v1ei
dc.identifier.citationJulie M. Nicely et al., An observationally constrained evaluation of the oxidative capacity in the tropical western Pacific troposphere, Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume121, Issue12 Pages 7461-7488 (2016), https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025067en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025067
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/19690
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherAGU Pubicationen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Physics Department
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Faculty Collection
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
dc.rightsPublic Domain Mark 1.0*
dc.rightsThis work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/*
dc.titleAn observationally constrained evaluation of the oxidative capacity in the tropical western Pacific troposphereen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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