Modelling the spring ozone maximum and the interhemispheric asymmetry in the remote marine boundary layer 1. Comparison with surface and ozonesonde measurements

TL;DR

This study models the spring ozone maximum and interhemispheric asymmetry in the remote marine boundary layer, comparing results with measurements to validate mechanisms and identify regional discrepancies, especially related to biomass burning emissions.

Contribution

It provides a validated model that reproduces the spring ozone maximum in the MBL and highlights regional differences due to biomass burning and transport processes.

Findings

Model closely matches surface measurements in the MBL.

Reproduces spring ozone maximum in most hemispheric regions.

Less accurate in tropical Pacific due to biomass burning emissions.

Abstract

Here we report a modelling study of the spring ozone maximum and its interhemispheric asymmetry in the remote marine boundary layer (MBL). The modelled results are examined at the surface and on a series of time-height cross sections at several locations spread over the Atlantic, the Indian, and the Pacific Oceans. Comparison of model with surface measurements at remote MBL stations indicate a close agreement. The most striking feature of the hemispheric spring ozone maximum in the MBL can be most easily identified at the NH sites of Westman Island, Bermuda, and Mauna Loa, and at the SH site of Samoa. Modelled ozone vertical distributions in the troposphere are compared with ozone profiles. For the Atlantic and the Indian sites, the model generally produces a hemispheric spring ozone maximum close to those of the measurements. The model also produces a spring ozone maximum in the northeastern and tropical north Pacific close to those measurements, and at sites in the NH high latitudes. The good agreement between model and measurements indicate that the model can reproduce the proposed mechanisms responsible for producing the spring ozone maximum in these regions of the MBL, lending confidence in the use of the model to investigate MBL ozone chemistry (see part 2 and part 3). The spring ozone maximum in the tropical central south Pacific and eastern equatorial Pacific are less well reproduced by the model, indicating that both the transport of $O_3$ precursors from biomass burning emissions taking place in southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania, southern Africa, and South America are not well represented in the model in these regions. Overall, the model produces a better simulation at sites where the stratosphere and biomass burning emissions are the major contributors.