Abstract
Abstract. Hurricane Florence was the sixth named storm in the Atlantic hurricane season 2018. It caused dozens of deaths and major economic damage. In this study, we present in situ observations of trace gases within tropical storm Florence on 2 September 2018, after it had developed a rotating nature, and of a tropical wave observed close to the African continent on 29 August 2018 as part of the research campaign CAFE Africa (Chemistry of the Atmosphere: Field Experiment in Africa) with HALO (High Altitude and LOng Range Research Aircraft). We show the impact of deep convection on atmospheric composition by measurements of the trace gases nitric oxide (NO), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and methyl iodide (CH3I) and by the help of color-enhanced infrared satellite imagery taken by GOES-16. While both systems, i.e., the tropical wave and the tropical storm, are deeply convective, we only find evidence for lightning in the tropical wave using both in situ NO measurements and data from the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN).
Highlights
Tropical cyclones are low-pressure systems evolving over warm tropical waters usually close to the Equator ( ± 20◦ latitude) – an area which includes the so-called Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) (Frank and Roundy, 2006; Deutscher Wetterdienst, 2020)
We present airborne in situ observations of trace gases within a tropical wave on 29 August 2018 and of the tropical storm Florence on 2 September 2018 based on measurements during the aircraft campaign CAFE Africa (Chemistry of the Atmosphere: Field Experiment in Africa)
We have presented in situ observations of a tropical cyclone which developed into hurricane Florence during the Atlantic hurricane season 2018
Summary
Tropical cyclones are low-pressure systems evolving over warm tropical waters usually close to the Equator ( ± 20◦ latitude) – an area which includes the so-called Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) (Frank and Roundy, 2006; Deutscher Wetterdienst, 2020). Other trace gases can be used to detect convective injection from the marine boundary layer into the upper troposphere These include near-surface emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) from the photolysis of dissolved organic matter (DOM) (Stubbins et al, 2006) and methyl iodide (CH3I), which is produced by algae and phytoplankton as well as aqueous photochemical processes and is released from the ocean with an atmospheric lifetime of 4–7 d (Tegtmeier et al, 2013; Bell et al, 2002). The data are examined for evidence of the chemical impacts of deep convection and lightning activity
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