Biomass burning influences on the composition of the remote South Pacific troposphere: analysis based on observations from PEM-Tropics-A

Authors

H. B. Singh
W. Viezee
Y. Chen
J. Bradshaw
S. Sandholm
D. Blake
N. Blake
Brian G. Heikes, University of Rhode IslandFollow
J. Snow, University of Rhode Island
R. Talbot
E. Browell
G. Gregory
G. Sachse
S. Vay

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

2000

Department

Oceanography

Abstract

Airborne, in situ measurements from PEM-Tropics-A (September/October 1996) are analyzed to show the presence of distinct pollution plumes in the middle-tropical troposphere of the remote South Pacific (10–30°S). These elevated plumes cause a relative maximum at about 5–7 km altitude in the vertical distribution of primary and secondary species characteristic of fuel combustion and biomass burning (CO, C₂H₂, C₂H₆, CH₃Cl, PAN, O₃). Similar plumes were also observed at mid-latitudes in the middle troposphere during three flights east of New Zealand (40–45°S). In all, pollution plumes with CO larger than 100 ppb were observed 24 times on seven separate flight days south of the equator. The observed plumes were frequently embedded in very dry air. Ten-day back trajectory analysis supports the view that these originated from the biomass burning regions of South Africa (and South America) and were transported to the South Pacific along long-distance subsiding trajectories. The chemical composition of the southern Pacific troposphere analyzed from the PEM-Tropics-A data is compared with data from the tropical regions of the northern Pacific (PEM-West-A) and southern Atlantic (TRACE-A) during the same Sept/Oct time period. Sizable perturbations in the abundance of ozone and its key precursors, resulting from the transport of pollution originating from biomass burning sources, are observed in much of the Southern Hemispheric troposphere.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Singh, H. B., Viezee, W., Chen, Y., Bradshaw, J., Sandholm, S., Blake, D., Blake, N.,...Vay, S. (2000). Biomass burning influences on the composition of the remote South Pacific troposphere: analysis based on observations from PEM-Tropics-A. Atmospheric Environment, 34(4), 635-644. doi: 10.1016/S1352-2310(99)00380-5

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(99)00380-5

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