TY - JOUR
T1 - Chemical transport of neutral atmospheric constituents by waves and turbulence
T2 - Theory and observations
AU - Gardner, Chester S.
AU - Liu, Alan Z.
N1 - The data and programs used in this work are available upon request. This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation grants AGS 11–15725, AGS 11–15249, and AGS 11–15224. Alan Liu’s work was also partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China through grant 41274151. The authors thank Tao Li of the University of Science and Technology of China for providing the SABER O3, O, H, and T data, Wuhu Feng of the University of Leeds for providing the WACCM H2O, and H2 data, Juan Carrillo-Sánchez of the University of Leeds for providing the Na and Fe meteoric influx data, Juan Carlos Gómez Martín and John M. C. Plane of the University of Leeds for providing the updated reaction rates for Na and Fe compounds, and Wentao Huang of the University of Colorado for providing the Table Mountain Na and Fe transport profiles.
PY - 2016/1/16
Y1 - 2016/1/16
N2 - Vertical chemical transport occurs when the density fluctuations of a species, caused by perturbations of its chemistry, are strongly correlated with the vertical wind fluctuations. Chemical transport can exceed dynamical and eddy transport of chemically active species. Theoretical expressions are derived for the chemical fluxes and transport velocities and used to characterize the vertical transport of mesospheric O3 and meteoric Na and Fe between 85 and 100 km. Chemical transport is dependent on the intrinsic frequency spectrum of the temperature fluctuations and on the chemical cutoff periods of the species. For O3 only high-frequency fluctuations contribute to chemical transport because slower, larger-amplitude density perturbations are damped by chemistry. The cutoff periods for O3 range from ~15 min during the day when photolysis is important to ~200 min at night. The chemical transport velocities of Na and Fe are proportional to the O3, O2+, and NO+ densities above 85 km. For O3, Na, and Fe the magnitudes of the vertical transport velocity can be as large as 10 cm/s, and they exhibit strong diurnal variations. O3 chemical transport is downward at night and upward during the day. Na and Fe chemical transport are largely upward with the strongest upward velocities at night near 85 and 100 km.
AB - Vertical chemical transport occurs when the density fluctuations of a species, caused by perturbations of its chemistry, are strongly correlated with the vertical wind fluctuations. Chemical transport can exceed dynamical and eddy transport of chemically active species. Theoretical expressions are derived for the chemical fluxes and transport velocities and used to characterize the vertical transport of mesospheric O3 and meteoric Na and Fe between 85 and 100 km. Chemical transport is dependent on the intrinsic frequency spectrum of the temperature fluctuations and on the chemical cutoff periods of the species. For O3 only high-frequency fluctuations contribute to chemical transport because slower, larger-amplitude density perturbations are damped by chemistry. The cutoff periods for O3 range from ~15 min during the day when photolysis is important to ~200 min at night. The chemical transport velocities of Na and Fe are proportional to the O3, O2+, and NO+ densities above 85 km. For O3, Na, and Fe the magnitudes of the vertical transport velocity can be as large as 10 cm/s, and they exhibit strong diurnal variations. O3 chemical transport is downward at night and upward during the day. Na and Fe chemical transport are largely upward with the strongest upward velocities at night near 85 and 100 km.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84958729718
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84958729718#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1002/2015JD023145
DO - 10.1002/2015JD023145
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84958729718
SN - 0148-0227
VL - 121
SP - 494
EP - 520
JO - Journal of Geophysical Research
JF - Journal of Geophysical Research
IS - 1
ER -