The efficiency of transport into the stratosphere via the Asian and North American summer monsoon circulations

Abstract

Abstract. Transport of pollutants into the stratosphere via the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) or North American summer monsoon (NASM) may affect the atmospheric composition and climate both locally and globally. We identify and study the robust characteristics of transport from the ASM and NASM regions to the stratosphere using the Lagrangian chemistry transport model CLaMS driven by both the ERA-Interim and MERRA-2 reanalyses. In particular, we quantify the relative influences of the ASM and NASM on stratospheric composition and investigate the transport pathways and efficiencies of transport of air masses originating at different altitudes in these two monsoon regions to the stratosphere. We release artificial tracers in several vertical layers from the middle troposphere to the lower stratosphere in both ASM and NASM source regions during July and August 2010–2013 and track their evolution until the following summer. We find that more air mass is transported from the ASM and NASM regions to the tropical stratosphere, and even to the southern hemispheric stratosphere, when the tracers are released clearly below the tropopause (350–360 K) than when they are released close to the tropopause (370–380 K). For tracers released close to the tropopause (370–380 K), transport is primarily into the northern hemispheric lower stratosphere. Results for different vertical layers of air origin reveal two transport pathways from the upper troposphere over the ASM and NASM regions to the tropical pipe: (i) quasi-horizontal transport to the tropics below the tropopause followed by ascent to the stratosphere via tropical upwelling, and (ii) ascent into the stratosphere inside the ASM/NASM followed by quasi-horizontal transport to the tropical lower stratosphere and further to the tropical pipe. Overall, the tropical pathway (i) is faster than the monsoon pathway (ii), particularly in the ascending branch. The abundance of air in the tropical pipe that originates in the ASM upper troposphere (350–360 K) is comparable to the abundance of air ascending directly from the tropics to the tropical pipe 10 months after (the following early summer) the release of the source tracers. The air mass contributions from the ASM to the tropical pipe are about 3 times larger than the corresponding contributions from the NASM. The transport efficiency into the tropical pipe, the air mass fraction inside this destination region normalized by the mass of the domain of origin, is greatest from the ASM region at 370–380 K. Although the contribution from the NASM to the stratosphere is less than that from either the ASM or the tropics, the transport efficiency from the NASM is comparable to that from the tropics.

Strong day-to-day variability of the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL) in August 2016 at the Himalayan foothills

“…Early size-resolved measurements using a balloon-borne optical particle counter (OPC) in August 1999 showed high number concentrations (0.7-0.8 particles cm −3 ) of aerosol particles with radii of 0.15-0.6 µm between about 130 and 70 hPa in the Asian summer monsoon (Kim et al, 2003;Tobo et al, 2007). Recent measurements with an OPC (Deshler et al, 2003) from Hyderabad, India, and with a Printed Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS) (Gao et al, 2016) from Kunming, China (both in 2015), also confirm the presence of the ATAL (Yu et al, 2017;Vernier et al, 2018). The OPC measurements indicate that the concentration of ATAL particles is highest close to the cold point tropopause and declines towards greater altitudes; concentrations (up to about 25 particles per cm −3 ) are dominated by particles in the r > 0.094 µm channel, whereas particle number concentrations for the r > 0.15 µm channel and the r > 0.30 µm channel are lower by a factor of 30 and 300, respectively (Vernier et al, 2018, Fig.…”

“…The confinement of air masses of tropospheric origin in the monsoon anticyclone also affects the aerosol particles constituting the ATAL (Yu et al, 2017;Vernier et al, 2018;Höpfner et al, 2019). Particles in the ATAL originate from ground sources (both gas-phase precursors and aerosol particles), which are lifted to UTLS altitudes by convection.…”

“…Particles in the ATAL originate from ground sources (both gas-phase precursors and aerosol particles), which are lifted to UTLS altitudes by convection. The formation mechanism of the aerosol particles constituting the ATAL is not well characterised, but there is evidence that the formation of secondary aerosol in the upper troposphere within the Asian monsoon anticyclone at high relative humidity and low temperature is important (Vernier et al, 2015(Vernier et al, , 2018Yu et al, 2017).…”

“…Ploeger et al, 2013;Vogel et al, 2014;Vogel et al, 2016;Vogel et al, 2019;Spang et al, 2015;Garny and Randel, 2016;Müller et al, 2016;Fadnavis et al, 2018;Rolf et al, 2018;Yan et al, 2019). Because of this export of air from the Asian monsoon circulation to the Northern Hemisphere, the ATAL particles contribute significantly (∼ 15 %) to the Northern Hemisphere stratospheric column aerosol surface area on an annual basis (Yu et al, 2017).…”

Strong variability of the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL) in August 2016 at the Himalayan foothills

“…The chemical signature of air masses within the monsoon anticyclone (e.g. tropospheric pollutants, water vapour) is exported to the Northern Hemisphere during summer and fall through quasi-isentropic transport from low latitudes (e.g., Ploeger et al, 2013;Vogel et al, 2014Vogel et al, , 2016Vogel et al, , 2019Spang et al, 2015;Garny and Randel, 2016;Müller et al, 2016;Fadnavis et al, 2018;Rolf et al, 2018;Yan et al, 2019). Because of this export of air from the Asian monsoon circulation to the Northern Hemisphere, the ATAL particles contribute significantly (∼ 15%) to the Northern Hemisphere stratospheric column aerosol surface area on an annual basis (Yu et al, 2017).…”