Identification

Title

Anthropogenic fingerprint detectable in Upper Tropospheric ozone trends retrieved from satellite

Abstract

Tropospheric ozone (O-3) is a strong greenhouse gas, particularly in the upper troposphere (UT). Limited observations point to a continuous increase in UT O3 in recent decades, but the attribution of UT O3 changes is complicated by large internal climate variability. We show that the anthropogenic signal ("fingerprint") in the patterns of UT O-3 increases is distinguishable from the background noise of internal variability. The time-invariant fingerprint of human-caused UT O-3 changes is derived from a 16-member initial-condition ensemble performed with a chemistry-climate model (CESM2-WACCM6). The fingerprint is largest between 30 degrees S and 40 degrees N, especially near 30 degrees N. In contrast, the noise pattern in UT O-3 is mainly associated with the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The UT O-3 fingerprint pattern can be discerned with high confidence within only 13 years of the 2005 start of the OMI/MLS satellite record. Unlike the UT O-3 fingerprint, the lower tropospheric (LT) O-3 fingerprint varies significantly over time and space in response to large-scale changes in anthropogenic precursor emissions, with the highest signal-to-noise ratios near 40 degrees N in Asia and Europe. Our analysis reveals a significant human effect on Earth's atmospheric chemistry in the UT and indicates promise for identifying fingerprints of specific sources of ozone precursors.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7sj1qwh

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2024-08-13T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact