Search results for "atmosphere"
showing 10 items of 673 documents
High gas-phase mixing ratios of formic and acetic acid in the High Arctic
2018
Abstract. Formic and acetic acid are ubiquitous and abundant in the Earth's atmosphere and are important contributors to cloud water acidity, especially in remote regions. Their global sources are not well understood, as evidenced by the inability of models to reproduce the magnitude of measured mixing ratios, particularly at high northern latitudes. The scarcity of measurements at those latitudes is also a hindrance to understanding these acids and their sources. Here, we present ground-based gas-phase measurements of formic acid (FA) and acetic acid (AA) in the Canadian Arctic collected at 0.5 Hz with a high-resolution chemical ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer using the iodide …
Investigation of the mixing layer height derived from ceilometer measurements in the Kathmandu Valley and implications for local air quality
2017
Abstract. In this study 1 year of ceilometer measurements taken in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, in the framework of the SusKat project (A Sustainable Atmosphere for the Kathmandu Valley) were analysed to investigate the diurnal variation of the mixing layer height (MLH) and its dependency on the meteorological conditions. In addition, the impact of the MLH on the temporal variation and the magnitude of the measured black carbon concentrations are analysed for each season. Based on the assumption that black carbon aerosols are vertically well mixed within the mixing layer and the finding that the mixing layer varies only little during night time and morning hours, black carbon emission fluxe…
Time evolution of observed July–September sea surface temperature-Sahel climate teleconnection with removed quasi-global effect (1900–2008)
2011
[1] Using sea surface temperature (SST), precipitation, and atmospheric information, this statistical study revisits the questions of the July–September SST-Sahel teleconnection variability after removing impact of quasi-global SSTs over the period 1900–2008. The eastern Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean dominate the relationship, both in terms of intensity and time stability, with significant values in 52% and 47% of years, respectively. More than two thirds of the rainy seasons classified as dry (wet) and 16 out of 18 (12 out of 15) of those classified as very dry (very wet) are concomitant of negative (positive) differences between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Correlations wi…
Expected future changes in the African monsoon between 2030 and 2070 using some CMIP3 and CMIP5 models under a medium-low RCP scenario
2012
[1] The accuracy of African Monsoon (AM) simulations together with expected future changes are presented using eight available CMIP5/AR5 AOGCMs under the RCP4.5 emission scenario and eight CMIP3/AR4 AOGCMs under the A1b scenario, with a multimodel approach and the “one model one vote” concept. The results refer to the ‘present’ period (1960–1999) and to a ‘future horizon’ (2031–2070), and are discussed in terms of monsoon dynamics and climate change. Overall the new simulations seem more realistic. They exhibit more accurate rainfall patterns, although some biases reported in CMIP3 models remain. The future changes show an inverse tendency regarding rainfall amounts with less (more) rainfal…
Spatiotemporal modeling and prediction of solar radiation
2003
[1] The radiation budget in the Earth-atmosphere system is what drives Earth's climate, and thus measurements of this balance are needed to improve our knowledge of Earth's climate and climate change. In the present paper we focus on the analysis of the surface shortwave radiation budget (SSRB), which is the amount of energy in the solar region of the electromagnetic spectrum (0.2–4.0 μm) absorbed at the surface. The SSRB has to be modeled from the surface to the top of the atmosphere, jointly with information about the state of the atmosphere and the surface. These data come from satellites orbiting the Earth and are often missing or disturbed. Its interest is not only at global scales; ra…
Climatology of convective density currents in the southern foothills of the Atlas Mountains
2010
Density currents fed by evaporationally cooled air are an important dust storm generating feature and can constitute a source of moisture in arid regions. Recently, the existence of such systems has been demonstrated for the area between the High Atlas Mountains and the Sahara desert in southern Morocco on the basis of case studies. Here, a climatological analysis is presented that uses data from the dense climate station network of the IMPETUS project (An Integrated Approach to the Efficient Management of Scarce Water Resources in West Africa) for the 5 year period 20022006. Objective criteria mainly based upon abrupt changes in wind and dew point temperature are defined to identify possib…
Particle size distributions of currently used pesticides in a rural atmosphere of France
2013
This work presents first data on the particle size distributions of current-used pesticides in the atmosphere. Ambient air samples were collected using a cascade impactor distributed into four size fractions in a rural site of Centre Region (France). Most pesticides were accumulated in the fine (0.1-1 mu m) particle size fraction such as cyprodinil, pendimethalin, fenpropidin, fenpropimorph and spiroxamine. Other pesticides such as acetochlor and metolachlor presented a bimodal distribution with maximum concentrations in the ultrafine (0.03-0.1 mu m) coarse (1-10 mu m) and in the ultrafine fine size ranges, respectively. No pesticides were detected in the size fraction >10 mu m. (C) 2013 El…
Effect of variation of the vertical air density profile on the relative optical air mass
1967
A simple method is developed which allows for estimating the deviations of the relative optical air mass for a given vertical air density profile from the relative optical air mass for the ARDC Model Atmosphere, 1959 which serves as standard. In case of the mean profiles given byQuiroz [3] for middle latitudes, summer; middle latitudes, winter; arctic summer; and arctic winter the air mass deviations turn out to be small.
Large-scale Rossby wave and synoptic-scale dynamic analyses of the unusually late 2016 heatwave over Europe
2018
This paper analyses the late summer heatwave over Europe in 2016. Central, western and southwestern Europe were primarily affected by the high temperatures. Seville, Spain, for example, experienced the highest September temperature on record on 5 September 2016, reaching a maximum of 44.8°C, and temperatures in Trier, Germany reached 34.2°C on 13 September 2016. The heatwave was marked by three distinct peaks, accompanied by record‐breaking values for 500hPa geopotential heights and, to a lesser extent, 850hPa temperatures. These peaks were associated with the arrival of high‐amplitude Rossby wave packets in western Europe. The latter originated several days before the event over western No…
Hydrogen in the gas plume of an open-vent volcano, Mount Etna, Italy
2011
[1] We report here on the first hydrogen determinations in the volcanic gas plume of Mount Etna, in Italy, which we obtained during periodic field surveys on the volcano's summit area with an upgraded MultiGAS. Using a specific (EZT3HYT) electrochemical sensor, we resolved H2 concentrations in the plume of 1–3 ppm above ambient (background) atmosphere and derived H2-SO2 and H2-H2O plume molar ratios of 0.002–0.044 (mean 0.013) and 0.0001–0.0042 (mean 0.0018), respectively. Taking the above H2-SO2 ratios in combination with a time-averaged SO2 flux of 1600 Gg yr−1, we evaluate that Etna contributes a time-averaged H2 flux of ∼0.65 Gg yr−1, suggesting that the volcanogenic contribution to the…