Quantification of the SF6 lifetime based on mesospheric loss measured in the stratospheric polar vortex
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a greenhouse gas with one of the highest radiative efficiencies in the atmosphere as well as an important indicator of transport time scales in the stratosphere. The current widely used estimate of the atmospheric lifetime of SF6 is 3200years. In this study we use in sit...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026198 |
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ftncar:oai:drupal-site.org:articles_19804 2023-09-05T13:17:30+02:00 Quantification of the SF6 lifetime based on mesospheric loss measured in the stratospheric polar vortex Ray, Eric A. (author) Moore, Fred L. (author) Elkins, James W. (author) Rosenlof, Karen H. (author) Laube, Johannes C. (author) Röckmann, Thomas (author) Marsh, Daniel R. (author) Andrews, Arlyn E. (author) 2017-04-27 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026198 en eng Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres--J. Geophys. Res. Atmos.--2169897X obspack_co2_1_GLOBALVIEW-CO2_2013_v1.0.4_2013-12-23--10.3334/OBSPACK/1002 articles:19804 ark:/85065/d76975hj doi:10.1002/2016JD026198 Copyright 2017 American Geophysical Union. article Text 2017 ftncar https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026198 2023-08-14T18:47:26Z Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a greenhouse gas with one of the highest radiative efficiencies in the atmosphere as well as an important indicator of transport time scales in the stratosphere. The current widely used estimate of the atmospheric lifetime of SF6 is 3200years. In this study we use in situ measurements in the 2000 Arctic polar vortex that sampled air with up to 50% SF6 loss to calculate an SF6 lifetime. Comparison of these measurements with output from the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) shows that WACCM transport into the vortex is accurate and that an important SF6 loss mechanism, believed to be electron attachment, is missing in the model. Based on the measurements and estimates of the size of the vortex, we calculate an SF6 lifetime of 850years with an uncertainty range of 580-1400years. The amount of SF6 loss is shown to be consistent with that of HFC-227ea, which has a lifetime of 670-780years, adding independent support to our new SF6 lifetime estimate. Based on the revised lifetime the global warming potential of SF6 will decrease only slightly for short time horizons (<100years) but will decrease substantially for time horizons longer than 2000years. Also, the use of SF6 measurements as an indicator of transport time scales in the stratosphere clearly must account for potential influence from polar vortex air. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Global warming OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) Arctic Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 122 8 4626 4638 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) |
op_collection_id |
ftncar |
language |
English |
description |
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a greenhouse gas with one of the highest radiative efficiencies in the atmosphere as well as an important indicator of transport time scales in the stratosphere. The current widely used estimate of the atmospheric lifetime of SF6 is 3200years. In this study we use in situ measurements in the 2000 Arctic polar vortex that sampled air with up to 50% SF6 loss to calculate an SF6 lifetime. Comparison of these measurements with output from the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) shows that WACCM transport into the vortex is accurate and that an important SF6 loss mechanism, believed to be electron attachment, is missing in the model. Based on the measurements and estimates of the size of the vortex, we calculate an SF6 lifetime of 850years with an uncertainty range of 580-1400years. The amount of SF6 loss is shown to be consistent with that of HFC-227ea, which has a lifetime of 670-780years, adding independent support to our new SF6 lifetime estimate. Based on the revised lifetime the global warming potential of SF6 will decrease only slightly for short time horizons (<100years) but will decrease substantially for time horizons longer than 2000years. Also, the use of SF6 measurements as an indicator of transport time scales in the stratosphere clearly must account for potential influence from polar vortex air. |
author2 |
Ray, Eric A. (author) Moore, Fred L. (author) Elkins, James W. (author) Rosenlof, Karen H. (author) Laube, Johannes C. (author) Röckmann, Thomas (author) Marsh, Daniel R. (author) Andrews, Arlyn E. (author) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
Quantification of the SF6 lifetime based on mesospheric loss measured in the stratospheric polar vortex |
spellingShingle |
Quantification of the SF6 lifetime based on mesospheric loss measured in the stratospheric polar vortex |
title_short |
Quantification of the SF6 lifetime based on mesospheric loss measured in the stratospheric polar vortex |
title_full |
Quantification of the SF6 lifetime based on mesospheric loss measured in the stratospheric polar vortex |
title_fullStr |
Quantification of the SF6 lifetime based on mesospheric loss measured in the stratospheric polar vortex |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantification of the SF6 lifetime based on mesospheric loss measured in the stratospheric polar vortex |
title_sort |
quantification of the sf6 lifetime based on mesospheric loss measured in the stratospheric polar vortex |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026198 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Global warming |
genre_facet |
Arctic Global warming |
op_relation |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres--J. Geophys. Res. Atmos.--2169897X obspack_co2_1_GLOBALVIEW-CO2_2013_v1.0.4_2013-12-23--10.3334/OBSPACK/1002 articles:19804 ark:/85065/d76975hj doi:10.1002/2016JD026198 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2017 American Geophysical Union. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026198 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres |
container_volume |
122 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
4626 |
op_container_end_page |
4638 |
_version_ |
1776198653813194752 |