Engineering topics

Douglass, Anne R.

Publications and source records attributed to Douglass, Anne R..

112 records · Page 7

NASA NTRS1989

The sensitivity of total ozone and ozone perturbation scenarios in a two-dimensional model due to dynamical inputs

The sensitivity of the total ozone distribution in the Douglass et al. (1989) photochemical model to the dynamical inputs of ozone and the zone perturbation scenarios was investigated by computing the residual circulation from three sets of heating rates (used in computing the advection field). The model ozone results were compared to solar backscattered UV ozone data (SBUV). It was found that, depending on the dynamical inputs, the modeled global average total ozone varied up to 10 percent (with even more substantial seasonal and latitudinal variabilities), indicating that total ozone in the middle to high latitudes is very sensitive to the advection field below 100 mbar, the region where the heating rates are most uncertain. The modeled total ozone showed better agreement with solar SBUV climatology when computed horizontal eddy diffusion was used.

Jackman, Charles H.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Impact of heterogeneous reactions on stratospheric chemistry of the Arctic

The possible depletion of ozone due to heterogeneous reactions occurring in Arctic polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) is fundamentally different from the Antarctic situation. PSCs in the Arctic are relatively short-lived and occur over limited regions of the Arctic stratosphere. The Arctic situation is examined using a model which calculates photochemical processes as a function of longitude in air circulating with fixed velocity around the pole at fixed pressure level and latitude. The model allows sunlight to vary diurnally and PSCs to occur in specified subregions of the domain. Measurements of chemical species including HCl, ClO, NO2 and HNO3 downwind from a PSC should show obvious changes compared to measurements in air unaffected by clouds. These species concentrations are found to be sensitive to sticking coefficients, cloud characteristics including particle number density and surface area, and to the PSC exposure time.

Douglass, Anne R.↗

NASA NTRS1987

The use of atmospheric measurements to constrain model predictions of ozone change from chlorine perturbations

Atmospheric photochemistry models have been used to predict the sensitivity of the ozone layer to various perturbations. These same models also predict concentrations of chemical species in the present day atmosphere which can be compared to observations. Model results for both present day values and sensitivity to perturbation depend upon input data for reaction rates, photodissociation rates, and boundary conditions. A method of combining the results of a Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis with the existing set of present atmospheric species measurements is developed. The method is used to examine the range of values for the sensitivity of ozone to chlorine perturbations that is possible within the currently accepted ranges for input data. It is found that model runs which predict ozone column losses much greater than 10 percent as a result of present fluorocarbon fluxes produce concentrations and column amounts in the present atmosphere which are inconsistent with the measurements for ClO, HCl, NO, NO2, and HNO3.

Douglass, Anne R.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Derivation of photochemical information near 1 mbar from ozone and temperature data

An analysis procedure has been developed for derivation of information about the photochemical behavior of ozone near 1 mbar by explicitly accounting for the dynamical transport terms in the continuity equation for perturbations from the zonal mean. The procedure is shown to be valid using data from a numerical transport model and is then applied to LIMS ozone and temperature data, using geostrophic winds to estimate the transport terms. The data study is restricted to March at 2, 1, and 0.7 mbar. Because the temperature deviations are dynamically produced, large temperature deviations are associated with significant ozone transport terms. The anticorrelation between the deviations of ozone and temperature disappears when the transport terms are small. The derived photochemical information is compared to photochemical theory. Although there is overall agreement in the magnitude as well as the latitude, altitude, and time dependencies, discrepancies are suggested which may be related to the long-standing failure of photochemical models to calculate ozone accurately near 1 mbar. The theory suggests that the addition of Cl(x) to the stratosphere will affect the relationship of ozone and temperature at 2 and 1 mbar. Comparison of the photochemical information derived from future ozone and temperature measurements with the results of the present analysis should provide a critical test of the photochemical scheme thought to describe the behavior of odd chlorine in the stratosphere.

Douglass, Anne R.↗