Impact of convection on the upper-tropospheric composition (water vapor and ozone) over a subtropical site (Réunion island; 21.1° S, 55.5° E) in the Indian Ocean

Damien Héron (1) , Stéphanie Evan (1) , Jérôme Brioude (2) , Karen Rosenlof (3) , Françoise Posny (1) , Jean-Marc Metzger (4) , Jean-Pierre Cammas (2)

1 LACy - Laboratoire de l'Atmosphère et des Cyclones
2 LAERO - Laboratoire d'aérologie
3 ESRL - NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
4 OSU-Réunion - Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de La Réunion

Impact of convection on the upper-tropospheric composition (water vapor and ozone) over a subtropical site (Réunion island; 21.1 • S, 55.5 • E) in the Indian Ocean Abstract. Observations of ozonesonde measurements of the NDACC/SHADOZ (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change and the Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesondes) program and humidity profiles from the daily Météo-France radiosondes at Réunion island (21.1 • S, 55.5 • E) from November 2013 to April 2016 were analyzed to identify the origin of wet upper-tropospheric air masses with low ozone mixing ratio observed above the island, located in the southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO). A seasonal variability in hydration events in the upper tropo-sphere was found and linked to the convective activity within the SWIO basin. In the upper troposphere, ozone mixing ratios were lower (mean of 57 ppbv) in humid air masses (RH > 50 %) compared to the background mean ozone mixing ratio (73.8 ppbv). A convective signature was identified in the ozone profile dataset by studying the probability of occurrence of different ozone thresholds. It was found that ozone mixing ratios lower than 45 to 50 ppbv had a local maximum of occurrence between 10 and 13 km in altitude, indicative of the mean level of convective outflow. Combining FLEXPART Lagrangian back trajectories with METEOSAT

Domaines: Physique Atmosphérique et Océanique [physics.ao-ph]; Océan, Atmosphère

Damien Héron, Stéphanie Evan, Jérôme Brioude, Karen Rosenlof, Françoise Posny, et al.. Impact of convection on the upper-tropospheric composition (water vapor and ozone) over a subtropical site (Réunion island; 21.1° S, 55.5° E) in the Indian Ocean. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2020, 20 (14), pp.8611-8626. ⟨10.5194/acp-20-8611-2020⟩. ⟨hal-02917625⟩