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Title: Importance of dry deposition parameterization choice in global simulations of surface ozone
Abstract. Dry deposition is a major sink of tropospheric ozone.Increasing evidence has shown that ozone dry deposition actively linksmeteorology and hydrology with ozone air quality. However, there is littlesystematic investigation on the performance of different ozone drydeposition parameterizations at the global scale and how parameterizationchoice can impact surface ozone simulations. Here, we present the results ofthe first global, multidecadal modelling and evaluation of ozone drydeposition velocity (vd) using multiple ozone dry depositionparameterizations. We model ozone dry deposition velocities over 1982–2011using four ozone dry deposition parameterizations that are representative ofcurrent approaches in global ozone dry deposition modelling. We useconsistent assimilated meteorology, land cover, and satellite-derived leafarea index (LAI) across all four, such that the differences in simulatedvd are entirely due to differences in deposition model structures orassumptions about how land types are treated in each. In addition, we usethe surface ozone sensitivity to vd predicted by a chemical transportmodel to estimate the impact of mean and variability of ozone dry depositionvelocity on surface ozone. Our estimated vd values from four differentparameterizations are evaluated against field observations, and whileperformance varies considerably by land cover types, our results suggestthat none of the parameterizations are universally better than the others.Discrepancy in simulated mean vd more » among the parameterizations isestimated to cause 2 to 5 ppbv of discrepancy in surface ozone in theNorthern Hemisphere (NH) and up to 8 ppbv in tropical rainforests in July,and up to 8 ppbv in tropical rainforests and seasonally dry tropical forestsin Indochina in December. Parameterization-specific biases based onindividual land cover type and hydroclimate are found to be the two maindrivers of such discrepancies. We find statistically significant trends inthe multiannual time series of simulated July daytime vd in allparameterizations, driven by warming and drying (southern Amazonia, southernAfrican savannah, and Mongolia) or greening (high latitudes). The trend inJuly daytime vd is estimated to be 1 % yr−1 and leadsto up to 3 ppbv of surface ozone changes over 1982–2011. The interannual coefficient ofvariation (CV) of July daytime mean vd in NH is found to be5 %–15 %, with spatial distribution that varies with the dry depositionparameterization. Our sensitivity simulations suggest this can contributebetween 0.5 to 2 ppbv to interannual variability (IAV) in surface ozone, butall models tend to underestimate interannual CV when compared to long-termozone flux observations. We also find that IAV in some dry depositionparameterizations is more sensitive to LAI, while in others it is more sensitiveto climate. Comparisons with other published estimates of the IAV ofbackground ozone confirm that ozone dry deposition can be an important partof natural surface ozone variability. Our results demonstrate the importanceof ozone dry deposition parameterization choice on surface ozone modellingand the impact of IAV of vd on surface ozone, thus making a strong casefor further measurement, evaluation, and model–data integration of ozone drydeposition on different spatiotemporal scales. « less
Authors:
; ; ;
Award ID(s):
1750328
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10131161
Journal Name:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Volume:
19
Issue:
22
Page Range or eLocation-ID:
14365 to 14385
ISSN:
1680-7324
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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