A pervasive role for biomass burning in tropical high ozone/low water structures

Daniel C. Anderson, Julie M. Nicely, Ross J. Salawitch, Timothy P. Canty, Russell R. Dickerson, Thomas F. Hanisco, Glenn M. Wolfe, Eric C. Apel, Elliot Atlas, Thomas Bannan, Stephane Bauguitte, Nicola J. Blake, James F. Bresch, Teresa L. Campos, Lucy J. Carpenter, Mark D. Cohen, Mathew Evans, Rafael P. Fernandez, Brian H. Kahn, Douglas E. KinnisonSamuel R. Hall, Neil R.P. Harris, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Michael Le Breton, James D. Lee, Carl Percival, Leonhard Pfister, R. Bradley Pierce, Daniel D. Riemer, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Barbara J.B. Stunder, Anne M. Thompson, Kirk Ullmann, Adam Vaughan, Andrew J. Weinheimer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Air parcels with mixing ratios of high O 3 and low H 2O (HOLW) are common features in the tropical western Pacific (TWP) mid-troposphere (300-700 hPa). Here, using data collected during aircraft sampling of the TWP in winter 2014, we find strong, positive correlations of O 3 with multiple biomass burning tracers in these HOLW structures. Ozone levels in these structures are about a factor of three larger than background. Models, satellite data and aircraft observations are used to show fires in tropical Africa and Southeast Asia are the dominant source of high O 3 and that low H 2O results from large-scale descent within the tropical troposphere. Previous explanations that attribute HOLW structures to transport from the stratosphere or mid-latitude troposphere are inconsistent with our observations. This study suggest a larger role for biomass burning in the radiative forcing of climate in the remote TWP than is commonly appreciated.

Original languageEnglish
Article number10267
Number of pages13
JournalNature Communications
Volume7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Jan 2016

Bibliographical note

Supplementary information available for this article at http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160113/ncomms10267/suppinfo/ncomms10267_S1.html This content is made available by the publisher under a Creative Commons CC BY Licence

Cite this