Estimation of stratospheric age spectrum from chemical tracers

M R  Schoeberl; A R  Douglass; B  Polansky; C  Boone; K A  Walker; P  Bernath

doi:10.1029/2005JD006125

Estimation of stratospheric age spectrum from chemical tracers

M R Schoeberl, A R Douglass, B Polansky, C Boone, K A Walker, P Bernath

Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We have developed a technique to diagnose the stratospheric age spectrum and estimate the mean age of air using the distributions of at least four constituents with different photochemical lifetimes. We demonstrate the technique using a 3-D CTM and then apply the technique to OMS tropical balloon observations, UARS CLAES January 1993, and ACE February-March 2005 observations of CFC11, CFC12, CH4, and N2O. Our results using the ACE and OMS data are generally in agreement with mean age of air estimates from the chemical model and from observations of SF6 and CO2; however, the UARS-derived mean age estimates show an intrusion of very young tropical air into the midlatitude stratosphere. The UARS CLAES values of F11 and F12 appear to be significantly higher than ACE and model values and bias our lower-stratospheric estimates of the age derived from UARS data toward younger values.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	-
Number of pages	18
Journal	Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume	110
Issue number	D21
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006125
Publication status	Published - 4 Nov 2005

Keywords

ARRAY ETALON SPECTROMETER
HALOGEN OCCULTATION EXPERIMENT
TROPICAL STRATOSPHERE
GENERAL-CIRCULATION
MEAN AGES
TRANSPORT
MODEL
VALIDATION
UARS
AIR

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10.1029/2005JD006125

Cite this

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title = "Estimation of stratospheric age spectrum from chemical tracers",

abstract = "We have developed a technique to diagnose the stratospheric age spectrum and estimate the mean age of air using the distributions of at least four constituents with different photochemical lifetimes. We demonstrate the technique using a 3-D CTM and then apply the technique to OMS tropical balloon observations, UARS CLAES January 1993, and ACE February-March 2005 observations of CFC11, CFC12, CH4, and N2O. Our results using the ACE and OMS data are generally in agreement with mean age of air estimates from the chemical model and from observations of SF6 and CO2; however, the UARS-derived mean age estimates show an intrusion of very young tropical air into the midlatitude stratosphere. The UARS CLAES values of F11 and F12 appear to be significantly higher than ACE and model values and bias our lower-stratospheric estimates of the age derived from UARS data toward younger values.",

keywords = "ARRAY ETALON SPECTROMETER, HALOGEN OCCULTATION EXPERIMENT, TROPICAL STRATOSPHERE, GENERAL-CIRCULATION, MEAN AGES, TRANSPORT, MODEL, VALIDATION, UARS, AIR",

author = "Schoeberl, {M R} and Douglass, {A R} and B Polansky and C Boone and Walker, {K A} and P Bernath",

year = "2005",

month = nov,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1029/2005JD006125",

language = "English",

volume = "110",

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journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research",

issn = "0148-0227",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Estimation of stratospheric age spectrum from chemical tracers

AU - Schoeberl, M R

AU - Douglass, A R

AU - Polansky, B

AU - Boone, C

AU - Walker, K A

AU - Bernath, P

PY - 2005/11/4

Y1 - 2005/11/4

N2 - We have developed a technique to diagnose the stratospheric age spectrum and estimate the mean age of air using the distributions of at least four constituents with different photochemical lifetimes. We demonstrate the technique using a 3-D CTM and then apply the technique to OMS tropical balloon observations, UARS CLAES January 1993, and ACE February-March 2005 observations of CFC11, CFC12, CH4, and N2O. Our results using the ACE and OMS data are generally in agreement with mean age of air estimates from the chemical model and from observations of SF6 and CO2; however, the UARS-derived mean age estimates show an intrusion of very young tropical air into the midlatitude stratosphere. The UARS CLAES values of F11 and F12 appear to be significantly higher than ACE and model values and bias our lower-stratospheric estimates of the age derived from UARS data toward younger values.

AB - We have developed a technique to diagnose the stratospheric age spectrum and estimate the mean age of air using the distributions of at least four constituents with different photochemical lifetimes. We demonstrate the technique using a 3-D CTM and then apply the technique to OMS tropical balloon observations, UARS CLAES January 1993, and ACE February-March 2005 observations of CFC11, CFC12, CH4, and N2O. Our results using the ACE and OMS data are generally in agreement with mean age of air estimates from the chemical model and from observations of SF6 and CO2; however, the UARS-derived mean age estimates show an intrusion of very young tropical air into the midlatitude stratosphere. The UARS CLAES values of F11 and F12 appear to be significantly higher than ACE and model values and bias our lower-stratospheric estimates of the age derived from UARS data toward younger values.

KW - ARRAY ETALON SPECTROMETER

KW - HALOGEN OCCULTATION EXPERIMENT

KW - TROPICAL STRATOSPHERE

KW - GENERAL-CIRCULATION

KW - MEAN AGES

KW - TRANSPORT

KW - MODEL

KW - VALIDATION

KW - UARS

KW - AIR

U2 - 10.1029/2005JD006125

DO - 10.1029/2005JD006125

M3 - Article

SN - 0148-0227

VL - 110

SP - -

JO - Journal of Geophysical Research

JF - Journal of Geophysical Research

IS - D21

ER -