Ozone in the Atlantic Ocean marine boundary layer

• Published in: Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
• Main Authors: Patrick Boylan, Detlev Helmig, Samuel Oltmans
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BioOne 2015
• Subjects: marine boundary layer; ozone; ozone transport; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Argentina; Ragged Point; Ushuaia; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000045; https://doaj.org/article/dc5394b64a364b3890c285e097581a23

Abstract In situ atmospheric ozone measurements aboard the R/V Ronald H. Brown during the 2008 Gas-Ex and AMMA research cruises were compared with data from four island and coastal Global Atmospheric Watch stations in the Atlantic Ocean to examine ozone transport in the marine boundary layer (MBL). Ozone measurements made at Tudor Hill, Bermuda, were subjected to continental outflow from the east coast of the United States, which resulted in elevated ozone levels above 50 ppbv. Ozone measurements at Cape Verde, Republic of Cape Verde, approached 40 ppbv in springtime and were influenced by outflow from Northern Africa. At Ragged Point, Barbados, ozone levels were ∼ 21 ppbv; back trajectories showed the source region to be the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Ozone measurements from Ushuaia, Argentina, indicated influence from the nearby city; however, the comparison of the daily maxima ozone mole fractions measured at Ushuaia and aboard the Gas-Ex cruise revealed that these were representative of background ozone in higher latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. Diurnal ozone cycles in the shipborne data, frequently reaching 6–7 ppbv, were larger than most previous reports from coastal or island monitoring locations and simulations based on HOx photochemistry alone. However, these data show better agreement with recent ozone modeling that included ozone-halogen chemistry. The transport time between station and ship was estimated from HYSPLIT back trajectories, and the change of ozone mole fractions during transport in the MBL was estimated. Three comparisons showed declining ozone levels; in the subtropical and tropical North Atlantic Ocean the loss of ozone was < 1.5 ppbv day−1. Back trajectories at Ushuaia were too inconsistent to allow for this determination. Comparisons between ship and station measurements showed that ozone behavior and large-scale (∼ 1000 km) multi-day transport features were well retained during transport in the MBL.