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Large-scale transport into the Arctic: the roles of the midlatitude jet and the Hadley Cell

Yang, Huang and Waugh, Darryn and Orbe, Clara and Zeng, Guang and Morgenstern, Olaf and Kinnison, Douglas and Lamarque, Jean-Francois and Tilmes, Simone and Plummer, David and Jöckel, Patrick and Strahan, Susan and Stone, Kane and Schofield, Robyn (2019) Large-scale transport into the Arctic: the roles of the midlatitude jet and the Hadley Cell. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP), 19 (8), pp. 5511-5528. Copernicus Publications. doi: 10.5194/acp-19-5511-2019. ISSN 1680-7316.

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Official URL: https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/5511/2019/

Abstract

Transport from the Northern Hemisphere (NH) midlatitudes to the Arctic plays a crucial role in determining the abundance of trace gases and aerosols that are important to Arctic climate via impacts on radiation and chemistry. Here we examine this transport using an idealized tracer with a fixed lifetime and predominantly midlatitude land-based sources in models participating in the Chemistry Climate Model Initiative (CCMI). We show that there is a 25 %–45 % difference in the Arctic concentrations of this tracer among the models. This spread is correlated with the spread in the location of the Pacific jet, as well as the spread in the location of the Hadley Cell (HC) edge, which varies consistently with jet latitude. Our results suggest that it is likely that the HC-related zonal-mean meridional transport rather than the jet-related eddy mixing is the major contributor to the inter-model spread in the transport of land-based tracers into the Arctic. Specifically, in models with a more northern jet, the HC generally extends further north and the tracer source region is mostly covered by surface southward flow associated with the lower branch of the HC, resulting in less efficient transport poleward to the Arctic. During boreal summer, there are poleward biases in jet location in free-running models, and these models likely underestimate the rate of transport into the Arctic. Models using specified dynamics do not have biases in the jet location, but do have biases in the surface meridional flow, which may result in differences in transport into the Arctic. In addition to the land-based tracer, the midlatitude-to-Arctic transport is further examined by another idealized tracer with zonally uniform sources. With equal sources from both land and ocean, the inter-model spread of this zonally uniform tracer is more related to variations in parameterized convection over oceans rather than variations in HC extent, particularly during boreal winter. This suggests that transport of land-based and oceanic tracers or aerosols towards the Arctic differs in pathways and therefore their corresponding inter-model variabilities result from different physical processes.

Item URL in elib:https://elib.dlr.de/127286/
Document Type:Article
Title:Large-scale transport into the Arctic: the roles of the midlatitude jet and the Hadley Cell
Authors:
AuthorsInstitution or Email of AuthorsAuthor's ORCID iDORCID Put Code
Yang, HuangDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USAhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5693-0392UNSPECIFIED
Waugh, DarrynDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USAhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7692-2798UNSPECIFIED
Orbe, ClaraNASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, USAUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Zeng, GuangNational Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9356-5021UNSPECIFIED
Morgenstern, OlafNational Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9967-9740UNSPECIFIED
Kinnison, DouglasNational Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling (ACOM) Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USAUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Lamarque, Jean-FrancoisNational Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling (ACOM) Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USAhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4225-5074UNSPECIFIED
Tilmes, SimoneNational Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling (ACOM) Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USAUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Plummer, DavidClimate Research Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Montreal, QC, CanadaUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Jöckel, PatrickDLR, IPAhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8964-1394UNSPECIFIED
Strahan, SusanAtmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USAUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Stone, KaneSchool of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australiahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2721-8785UNSPECIFIED
Schofield, RobynSchool of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australiahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4230-717XUNSPECIFIED
Date:26 April 2019
Journal or Publication Title:Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP)
Refereed publication:Yes
Open Access:Yes
Gold Open Access:Yes
In SCOPUS:Yes
In ISI Web of Science:Yes
Volume:19
DOI:10.5194/acp-19-5511-2019
Page Range:pp. 5511-5528
Publisher:Copernicus Publications
ISSN:1680-7316
Status:Published
Keywords:Chemistry Climate Model Initiative, CCMI, Global Chemistry Climate Modelling, EMAC, MESSy, atmospheric transport, midlatitude jet, Hadley Cell, tracer
HGF - Research field:Aeronautics, Space and Transport
HGF - Program:Space
HGF - Program Themes:Earth Observation
DLR - Research area:Raumfahrt
DLR - Program:R EO - Earth Observation
DLR - Research theme (Project):R - Atmospheric and climate research, R - Project Climatic relevance of atmospheric tracer gases, aerosols and clouds
Location: Oberpfaffenhofen
Institutes and Institutions:Institute of Atmospheric Physics > Earth System Modelling
Deposited By: Jöckel, Dr. Patrick
Deposited On:02 May 2019 08:45
Last Modified:02 May 2019 14:00

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