Abstract
Making sense of modeled atmospheric composition requires not only comparison
to in situ measurements but also knowing and quantifying the sensitivity of
the model to its input factors. Using a global sensitivity method involving
the simultaneous perturbation of many chemical transport model input factors,
we find the model uncertainty for ozone (O3), hydroxyl radical (OH), and
hydroperoxyl radical (HO2) mixing ratios, and apportion this uncertainty to
specific model inputs for the DC-8 flight tracks corresponding to the NASA
Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (INTEX) campaigns of 2004 and 2006. In general, when uncertainties in modeled
and measured quantities are accounted for, we find agreement between modeled
and measured oxidant mixing ratios with the exception of ozone during the
Houston flights of the INTEX-B campaign and HO2 for the flights over the
northernmost Pacific Ocean during INTEX-B. For ozone and OH, modeled mixing
ratios were most sensitive to a bevy of emissions, notably lightning NOx,
various surface NOx sources, and isoprene. HO2 mixing ratios were most
sensitive to CO and isoprene emissions as well as the aerosol uptake of
HO2. With ozone and OH being generally overpredicted by the model, we
find better agreement between modeled and measured vertical profiles when
reducing NOx emissions from surface as well as lightning sources.
Citation
ID:
146368
Ref Key:
christian2018atmosphericglobal