Interannual variability in tropospheric nitrous oxide. Issue 16 (27th August 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thompson, R. L.; Dlugokencky, E.; Chevallier, F.; Ciais, P.; Dutton, G.; Elkins, J. W.; Langenfelds, R. L.; Prinn, R. G.; Weiss, R. F.; Tohjima, Y.; O'Doherty, S.; Krummel, P. B.; Fraser, P.; Steele, L. P.
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 40:Issue 16(2013:Aug.)
• Page Start: 4426
• Page End: 4431
• Publication Date: 2013-08-27
• Subjects: Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1002/grl.50721
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>[1] Observations of tropospheric N₂O mixing ratio show significant variability on interannual timescales (0.2 ppb, 1 standard deviation). We found that interannual variability in N₂O is weakly correlated with that in CFC‐12 and SF₆ for the northern extratropics and more strongly correlated for the southern extratropics, suggesting that interannual variability in all these species is influenced by large‐scale atmospheric circulation changes and, for SF₆ in particular, interhemispheric transport. N₂O interannual variability was not, however, correlated with polar lower stratospheric temperature, which is used as a proxy for stratosphere‐to‐troposphere transport in the extratropics. This suggests that stratosphere‐to‐troposphere transport is not a dominant factor in year‐to‐year variations in N₂O growth rate. Instead, we found strong correlations of N₂O interannual variability with the Multivariate ENSO Index. The climate variables, precipitation, soil moisture, and temperature were also found to be significantly correlated with N₂O interannual variability, suggesting that climate‐driven changes in soil N₂O flux may be important for variations in N₂O growth rate.</p> </abstract>