Spatial and temporal variability in the hydroxyl (OH) radical: understanding the role of large-scale climate features and their influence on OH through its dynamical and photochemical drivers

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dc.contributor.authorAnderson, Daniel C.
dc.contributor.authorDuncan, Bryan N.
dc.contributor.authorFiore, Arlene M.
dc.contributor.authorBaublitz, Colleen B.
dc.contributor.authorFollette-Cook, Melanie B.
dc.contributor.authorNicely, Julie M.
dc.contributor.authorWolfe, Glenn
dc.date.accessioned2021-10-13T16:59:29Z
dc.date.available2021-10-13T16:59:29Z
dc.date.issued2021-04-30
dc.description.abstractThe hydroxyl radical (OH) is the primary atmospheric oxidant responsible for removing many important trace gases, including methane, from the atmosphere. Although robust relationships between OH drivers and modes of climate variability have been shown, the underlying mechanisms between OH and these climate modes, such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we use a chemical transport model to perform a 38 year simulation of atmospheric chemistry, in conjunction with satellite observations, to understand the relationship between tropospheric OH and ENSO, Northern Hemispheric modes of variability, the Indian Ocean Dipole, and monsoons. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and regression analyses show that ENSO is the dominant mode of global OH variability in the tropospheric column and upper troposphere, responsible for approximately 30 % of the total variance in boreal winter. Reductions in OH due to El Niño are centered over the tropical Pacific and Australia and can be as high as 10 %–15 % in the tropospheric column. The relationship between ENSO and OH is driven by changes in nitrogen oxides in the upper troposphere and changes in water vapor and O¹D in the lower troposphere. While the correlations between monsoons or other modes of variability and OH span smaller spatial scales than for ENSO, regional changes in OH can be significantly larger than those caused by ENSO. Similar relationships occur in multiple models that participated in the Chemistry–Climate Model Initiative (CCMI), suggesting that the dependence of OH interannual variability on these well-known modes of climate variability is robust. Finally, the spatial pattern and r² values of correlation between ENSO and modeled OH drivers – such as carbon monoxide, water vapor, lightning, and, to a lesser extent, NO₂ – closely agree with satellite observations. The ability of satellite products to capture the relationship between OH drivers and ENSO provides an avenue to an indirect OH observation strategy and new constraints on OH variability.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research has been supported in part by the NASA Aura ACMAP program (grant no. 16-ACMAP16-0027)en_US
dc.description.urihttps://acp.copernicus.org/articles/21/6481/2021/en_US
dc.format.extent2 filesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2x65q-phxw
dc.identifier.citationAnderson, Daniel C. et al.; Spatial and temporal variability in the hydroxyl (OH) radical: understanding the role of large-scale climate features and their influence on OH through its dynamical and photochemical drivers; Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 21, 8, 6481–6508, 30 April, 2021; https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6481-2021en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6481-2021
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/23083
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherCopernicus Publicationsen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology
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.en_US
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.titleSpatial and temporal variability in the hydroxyl (OH) radical: understanding the role of large-scale climate features and their influence on OH through its dynamical and photochemical driversen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dcterms.creatorhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6586-4043en_US

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