Tropospheric ozonesonde profiles at long-term US monitoring sites: 2. Links between Trinidad Head, CA, profile clusters and inland surface ozone measurements

Details

• Journal Title:
  Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
• Personal Author:
  Stauffer, Ryan M. ; Thompson, Anne M. ; Oltmans, Samuel J. ; Johnson, Bryan J.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; ESRL (Earth System Research Laboratory) ; CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) ; GML (Global Monitoring Laboratory)
• Description:
  Much attention has been focused on the transport of ozone (O-3) to the western U.S., particularly given the latest revision of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard to 70 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) of O-3. This makes quantifying the contributions of stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange, local pollution, and pollution transport to this region essential. To evaluate free-tropospheric and surface O-3 in the western U.S., we use self-organizing maps to cluster 18 years of ozonesonde profiles from Trinidad Head, CA. Three of nine O-3 mixing ratio profile clusters exhibit thin laminae of high O-3 above Trinidad Head. The high O-3 layers are located between 1 and 6 km above mean sea level and reside above an inversion associated with a northern location of the Pacific subtropical high. Ancillary data (reanalyses, trajectories, and remotely sensed carbon monoxide) help identify the high O-3 sources in one cluster, but distinguishing mixed influences on the elevated O-3 in other clusters is difficult. Correlations between the elevated tropospheric O-3 and surface O-3 at high-altitude monitors at Lassen Volcanic and Yosemite National Parks, and Truckee, CA, are marked and long lasting. The temporal correlations likely result from a combination of transport of baseline O-3 and covarying meteorological parameters. Days corresponding to the high O-3 clusters exhibit hourly surface O-3 anomalies of +5-10 ppbv compared to a climatology; the positive anomalies can last up to 3 days after the ozonesonde profile. The profile and surface O-3 links demonstrate the importance of regular ozonesonde profiling at Trinidad Head.
• Source:
  Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 122(2), 1261-1280.
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1002/2016jd025254
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Rights Information:
  Other
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3f11606c8634b0f9cedf6aa0d960183a59cf97ba53ca728f8cfdf812e66429894ac6c637b3de7d57935197c34f35cdaa293b60ef53ebbdd53ce52d3d78e3df41
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/22343/noaa_22343_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.42 MB ]