Polar boundary layer bromine explosion and ozone depletion events in the chemistry–climate model EMAC v2.52: implementation and evaluation of AirSnow algorithm

• Published in: Geoscientific Model Development
• Main Authors: S. Falk, B.-M. Sinnhuber
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2018
• Subjects: Geology; QE1-996.5; Arctic; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-1115-2018; https://doaj.org/article/31bebd39b6f349ee91db80ca8e27f5c1

Ozone depletion events (ODEs) in the polar boundary layer have been observed frequently during springtime. They are related to events of boundary layer enhancement of bromine. Consequently, increased amounts of boundary layer volume mixing ratio (VMR) and vertical column densities (VCDs) of BrO have been observed by in situ observation, ground-based as well as airborne remote sensing, and from satellites. These so-called bromine explosion (BE) events have been discussed serving as a source of tropospheric BrO at high latitudes, which has been underestimated in global models so far. We have implemented a treatment of bromine release and recycling on sea-ice- and snow-covered surfaces in the global chemistry–climate model EMAC (ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry) based on the scheme of Toyota et al. (2011). In this scheme, dry deposition fluxes of HBr, HOBr, and BrNO 3 over ice- and snow-covered surfaces are recycled into Br 2 fluxes. In addition, dry deposition of O 3 , dependent on temperature and sunlight, triggers a Br 2 release from surfaces associated with first-year sea ice. Many aspects of observed bromine enhancements and associated episodes of near-complete depletion of boundary layer ozone, both in the Arctic and in the Antarctic, are reproduced by this relatively simple approach. We present first results from our global model studies extending over a full annual cycle, including comparisons with Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) satellite BrO VCDs and surface ozone observations.