Analyzing Trace Gas Measurements to Understand Convective Dynamics: Results from SEAC4RS Field Campaign and Mozaic Project

Abstract:

Deep convective updrafts transport air parcels from near the PBL to the upper troposphere in about 20-30 min. At this time scale, most insoluble trace gases (e.g., ozone, some VOCs) can be treated as nearly conserved tracers. While the atmospheric chemistry community is most interested in the chemical consequences of the trace gases being lofted, these composition measurements, if sampled properly inside and near convection, can be utilized to study convective dynamics including lateral entrainment and mixing in the outflow. We will use measurements made from a recent NASA field campaign, SEAC4RS to illustrate how such studies can be conducted. Also, we analyzed long-term data from MOZAIC project to corroborate the findings from SEAC4RS. It will be shown that using trace gases to diagnose convective dynamics sometimes has certain advantages over the traditional meteorological approach using, e.g., equivalent potential temperature.