HOx measurements in the summertime upper troposphere over Europe: a comparison of observations to a box model and a 3-D model

Abstract

In situ airborne measurements of OH and HO2 with the HORUS (HydrOxyl Radical measurement Unit based on fluorescence Spectroscopy) instrument were performed in the summertime upper troposphere across Europe during the HOOVER 2 (HOx OVer EuRope) campaign in July 2007. Complementary measurements of trace gas species and photolysis frequencies were conducted to obtain a broad data set, which has been used to quantify the significant HOx sources and sinks. In this study we compare the in situ measurement of OH and HO2 with simulated mixing ratios from the constrained box model CAABA/MECCA (Chemistry As A Box Model Application/Module Efficiently Calculating the Chemistry of the Atmosphere), and the global circulation model EMAC (ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry Model). The constrained box model reproduces the observed OH and HO2 mixing ratios with better agreement (obs/mod median 98% OH, 96% HO2) than the global model (median 76% OH, 59% HO2). The observations and the computed HOx sources and sinks are used to identify deviations between the models and their impacts on the calculated HOx budget.