• \
    Start Submission Become a Reviewer

    Reading: Impact of vertical resolution on the transport of passive tracers in the ECHAM4 model

    Download

     A- A+
    Alt. Display

    Original Research Papers

    Impact of vertical resolution on the transport of passive tracers in the ECHAM4 model

    Authors:

    C. Land ,

    Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, DE
    X close

    J. Feichter,

    Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, DE
    X close

    R. Sausen

    Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, DE
    X close

    Abstract

    The transport of the passive tracers 14CO2 and SF6 has been modelled with two versions of the general circulation model ECHAM4 with different vertical resolutions: the standard model with 19 model layers (L19) and a higher-resolution version with 39 layers (L39). We study the impact of vertical resolution on the modelled transport characteristics. Both models are able to capture the observed SF6concentrations in the troposphere, but in the stratosphere the SF6 mixing ratios are overestimated. L39 generally calculates higher stratospheric SF6 mixing ratios than L19. This deviation increases with altitude. The difference between the modelled profiles is partly attributed to the residual mean meridional circulation, which is stronger in L39 than in L19, and partly to the initial globally constant SF6 concentration. The comparison of modelled 14CO2 surface concentrations and vertical profiles with observations has shown that an increased vertical resolution in the climate model ECHAM4 reduces the strength of stratosphere–troposphere exchange. L39 allows a better representation of sharp gradients at the tropopause than L19. This results in a weaker downward transport across the tropopause. However, compared to observations the downward transport is still too strong even in the L39 simulation.

    How to Cite: Land, C., Feichter, J. and Sausen, R., 2002. Impact of vertical resolution on the transport of passive tracers in the ECHAM4 model. Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology, 54(4), pp.344–360. DOI: http://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v54i4.16670
    3
    Views
      Published on 01 Jan 2002
    Peer Reviewed
     CC BY 4.0
     Accepted on 21 May 2002            Submitted on 2 Jul 2001

    References

    1. Andrews , D. , Holton , J. and Leovy , C . 1987 . Middle atmo-sphere dynamics. Academic Press , London .  

    2. Austin , J. , Butchart , N. and Swinbank , R . 1997 . Sensitivity of ozone and temperature to vertical resolution in a GCM with coupled stratospheric chemistry. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc . 123 , 1405 – 1431 .  

    3. Boville , B. A . 1991 . Sensitivity of simulated climate to model resolution. J. Climate 4 , 469 – 485 .  

    4. Boville , B. and Randel , W . 1992 . Equatorial waves in the stratospheric GCM: effects of the vertical resolution. J. Atmos. Sci . 49 , 785 – 801 .  

    5. Denning , A. S. , Holzer , M. , Gurney , K. R. , Heimann , M. , Law , R. M. et al . 1999 . Three-dimensional transport and concentration of SF6 — A model intercomparison study (TransCom 2). Tellus 51B , 226 – 297 .  

    6. Feichter , J. and Lohmann , U . 1997 . The atmospheric sulfur cycle in ECHAM-4 and its impact on the shortwave radi-ation. Climate Dyn . 13 , 235 – 246 .  

    7. Geller , L. S. , Elkins , J. W. , Lobert , J. M. , Clarke , A. D. , Hurst , D. E et al. 1997 . Tropospheric SF6: observed latitudinal distribution and trends, derived emissions and interhemi-spheric exchange time. Geophys. Res. Lett . 24 , 675 - 678 .  

    8. Hall , T. M. and Plumb , R. A . 1994 . Age as a diagnostic of stratospheric transport./. Geophys. Res . 99 , 1059 – 1070 .  

    9. Hall , T. M. and Waugh , D. W . 1997 . Timescales for the strato-spheric circulation derived from tracers. J. Geophys. Res . 102 , 8991 – 9001 .  

    10. Hall , T. M. and Waugh , D. W . 1998 . Influence of nonlocal chemistry on tracer distributions - Inferring the mean age of air from SF6. J. Geophys. Res . 103 , 13327 – 13336 .  

    11. Hall , T. M. , Waugh , D. W. , Boering , K. A. and Plumb , R. A . 1999 . Evaluation of transport in stratospheric models. J. Geophys. Res . 104 , 18815 – 18839 .  

    12. Hamisch , J. , Borchers , R. , Fabian , P. and Maiss , M. 1996 . Tropospheric trends for CF4 and C2F6 since 1982 derived from SF6 dated stratospheric air. Geophys. Res. Lett . 23 , 1099 - 1102 .  

    13. Hamisch , J. , Bischof , W. , Borchers , R. , Fabian , P. and Maiss , M. 1998 . A stratospheric excess of CO2 - due to tropical deep convection?. Geophys. Res. Lett . 25 , 63 - 66 .  

    14. Hesshaimer , V. and Levin , I . 2000 . Revision of the strato-spheric bomb 14CO2 inventory. .1. Geophys. Res . 105 , 11641 – 11658 .  

    15. Hesshaimer , V. , Heimann , M. and Levin , I . 1994 . Radiocar-bon evidence for a smaller oceanic carbon dioxide sink than previously believed. Nature 370 , 201 – 203 .  

    16. Johnston , H. S . 1989 . Evaluation of excess carbon 14 and strontium 90 data for suitability to test two-dimensional stratospheric models. J. Geophys. Res . 94 , 18485 – 18493 .  

    17. Kinnison , D. E. , Johnston , H. S. , Weisenstein , D. and Yue , G. K . 1993 . Radionuclides as exotic tracers. In: The atmo- spheric effects of stratospheric aircraft: report of the 1992 models and measurements workshop (eds. M. Prather and E. Remsberg). NASA Reference Publication 1292 Vol. BI, Special Diagnostic Studies, NASA, Washington DC, USA, 1-1-1-90.  

    18. Kjellstrom , E. , Feichter , J. and Hoffmann , G. 2000 . Transport of SF6 and 14CO2 in ECHAM4. Tellus 52B , 1 - 18 .  

    19. Ko , M. K. W. , Sze , N. D. , Wang , W.-C. , Shia , G. , Goldman A. et al. 1993 . Atmospheric sulfur hexafluoride: sources, sinks, and greenhouse warming. .1. Geophys. Res . 98 , 10499 - 10507 .  

    20. Land , C. , Ponater , M. , Sausen , R. and Roeckner , E . 1999 . The ECHAM4IL39(DLR) GCM - Tech-nical description and model climatology . DLR-Forschungsbericht 1999-31, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, 45 pp, ISSN 1434-8454. Also available electronically via http:11www.pa.op.dlr.delechamIL39.html.  

    21. Levin , I. and Hesshaimer , V . 1996 . Refining of atmospheric transport model entries by the globally observed passive tracer distributions of “krypton and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). J. Geophys. Res . 101 , 16745 – 16755 .  

    22. Lindzen , R. S. and Fox-Rabinovitz , M . 1989 . Consistent ver-tical and horizontal resolution. Mon. Wea. Rev . 117 , 2575 – 2583 .  

    23. Lohmann , U. and Roeckner , E . 1996 . Design and perfor-mance of a new cloud microphysics scheme developed for the ECHAM general circulation model. Climate Dyn . 12 , 557 – 572 .  

    24. Maiss , M. , Steele , L. P. , Francey , R. J. , Fraser , P. J. , Langenfelds , R. L. et al. 1996 . Sulfur hexafluoride - A powerful new atmospheric tracer. Atmos. Environ . 30 , 1621 – 1629 .  

    25. Manzini , E. and Feichter , J. 1999 . Simulation of the SF6 tracer with the middle atmosphere MAECHAM4 model: aspects of the large-scale transport. Geophys. Res . 104 , 31097 - 31108 .  

    26. Marshall , S. , Roads , J. O. and Oglesby , R. J. 1997 . Effects of resolution and physics on precipitation in the NCAR Community Climate Model. Geophys. Res . 102 , 19529 - 19541 .  

    27. Nydal , R. and Lovseth , K . 1983 . Tracing bomb 14C in the atmosphere 1962-1980. J. Geophys. Res . 88 , 3621 – 3642 .  

    28. Olga , P. , Persson , G. and Warner , T. T. 1991 . Model gen-eration of spurious gravity waves due to inconsistency of the vertical and horizontal resolution. Mon. Wea. Rev . 119 , 917 - 935 .  

    29. Patra , P. K. , Lal , S. , Subbaraya , B. H. , Jackman , C. H. and Rajaratnam , P . 1997 . Observed vertical profile of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and its atmospheric applications. J. Geophys. Res . 102 , 8855 – 8859 .  

    30. Pope , V. D. , Pamment , J. A. , Jackson , D. R. and Slingo , A. 2001 . The representation of water vapour and its depen-dence on vertical resolution in the Hadley Centre Climate model. J. Climate 14 , 3065 - 3085 .  

    31. Rasch , P. J. and Lawrence , M. 1998 . Recent development in transport methods at NCAR. In: MPI workshop on con-servative transport schemes (ed. B. Machenhauer). Re-port No. 265, Hamburg, Germany, Max-Planck-Institut ffir Meteorologie, 65 - 75 .  

    32. Rasch , P. J. and Williamson , D. L. 1990 . Computational as-pects of moisture transport in global models of the atmo-sphere. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc . 116 , 1071 - 1090 .  

    33. Ravishankara , A. R. , Solomon , S. , Tumipseed , A. A. and Warren , R. E 1993 . Atmospheric lifetimes of long-lived halogenated species. Science 259 , 194 – 199 .  

    34. Reithmeier , C. and Sausen , R . 2002 . Attila - atmospheric tracer transport in a Lagrangian model. DLR-Institute ffir Physik der Atmosphdre Report No. 141, Oberpfaffen-hofen, Germany, ISSN 0943-4771.  

    35. Roeckner , E. , Arpe , K. , Bengtsson , L. , Brinkop , S. , Dfimenil , L. et al . 1992 . Simulation of the present-day climate with the ECHAM model: impact of model physics and resolu-tion. Report No. 93, Max-Planck-Institut fib- Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany, 171 pp.  

    36. Roeckner , E. , Arpe , K. , Bengtsson , L. , Christoph , M. , Claussen , M. et al . 1996 . The atmospheric general cir-culation model ECHAM-4: model description and simula-tion of present-day climate. Report No. 218, Max-Planck-Institut fiir Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany, 90 pp.  

    37. Roeckner , E. , Bengtsson , L. , Feichter , J. , Lelieveld , J. and Rodhe , H. 1999 . Transient climate change simulations with a coupled atmosphere-ocean GCM including the tropo-spheric sulfur cycle. J. Climate 12 , 737 - 754 .  

    38. Sausen , R. , Feneberg , B. and Ponater , M . 1997 . Climatic impact of aircraft induced ozone changes. Geophys. Res. Lett . 24 , 1203 – 1206 .  

    39. Schmidt , U. and Khedim , A . 1991 . In situ measurements of carbon dioxide in the winter Arctic vortex and at midlati-tudes: an indicator of the “age” of stratospheric air. Geo-phys. Res. Lett . 18 , 763 – 766 .  

    40. Senior , C. A . 1995 . The dependence of climate sensitivity on the horizontal resolution of a GCM. J. Climate 8 , 2860 – 2880 .  

    41. Shia , R.-L. , Ko , M. K. W. , Zou , M. and Kotamarthi , V. R . 1993 . Cross-tropopause transport of excess 14C in a two-dimensional model. J. Geophys. Res . 98 , 18599 – 18606 .  

    42. Simmons , A. J. , Burridge , D. M. , Jarraud , M. , Girard , C. and Wergen , W. 1989 . The ECMWF medium-range prediction models: development of the numerical formulations and the impact of increased resolution. Meteorol. Atmos. Phys . 40 , 28 - 60 .  

    43. Stendel , M. and Roeckner , E . 1998 . Impacts of horizontal res-olution on simulated climate statistics in ECHAM4. Report No. 253, Max-Planck-Institut ffir Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany, 57 pp.  

    44. Timmreck , C. , Graf , H.-F. and Feichter , J. 1999 . Simulation of Mt. Pinatubo aerosol with the Hamburg climate model. Theor. Appl. Climatol . 62 , 85 - 108 .  

    45. Tompkins , A. and Emanuel , K. A . 2000 . The vertical-resolution sensitivity of simulated equilibrium tropical temperature and water-vapour profiles. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc . 126 , 1219 – 1238 .  

    46. Tsuyuki , T . 1994 . Impacts of increased vertical resolution in the stratosphere on dynamical extended—range forecasts. J. Meteorol. Soc. Jpn . 72 , 795 – 810 .  

    47. Upstillgoddard , R. C. and Wilkins , C. S . 1998 . The poten-tial of SF6 as a geothermal tracer. Water Res . 29 , 1065 – 1068 .  

    48. Volk , C. M. , Elkins , J. W. , Fahey , D. W. , Dutton , G. S. , Gilligan , J. M. et al. 1997 . Evaluation of source gas life-times from stratospheric observations. J. Geophys. Res . 102 , 25543 - 25564 .  

    49. Waugh , D. W. , Hall , T. M. , Randel , W. J. , Rasch , P. J. , Boville , B. A. et al. 1997 . Three-dimensional simulations of long—lived tracers using winds from MACCM2. J.Geophys. Res . 102 , 21493 - 21513 .  

    50. Williamson , D. L. and Rasch , P. J. 1989 . Two-dimensional semi-Lagrangian transport with shape-preserving interpo-lation. Mon. Wea. Rev . 117 , 102 - 129 .  

    51. Williamson , D. L. and Rasch , P. J. 1994 . Water vapor transport in the NCAR CCM2. Tellus 46A , 34 - 51 .  

    52. Williamson , D. L. , Kiehl , J. T. and Hack , J. J. 1995 . Cli-mate sensitivity of the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM2) to horizontal resolution. Climate. Dyn . 11 , 377 - 397 .  

    53. World Meteorological Organization 1986 . Atmospheric ozone 1985. Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project Report No. 16, Geneva, Switzerland.  

    Jump to Discussions Related content
    comments powered by Disqus