Tropical entrainment time scales inferred from stratospheric N2O and CH4 observations

Abstract

Simultaneous in situ measurements of N2O and CH4 were made with a tunable diode laser spectrometer (ALIAS II) aboard the Observations from the Middle Stratosphere (OMS) balloon platform from New Mexico, Alaska, and Brazil during 1996 and 1997. We find different compact relationships of CH4 with N2O in the tropics and extra‐tropics because mixing is slow between these regions. Transport into the extra‐tropics from the tropics or the polar vortex leads to deviations from the normal compact relationship. We use measured N2O and CH4 and a simple model to quantify entrainment of mid‐latitude stratospheric air into the tropics. The entrainment time scale is estimated to be 16 (+17, −8) months for altitudes between 20 and 28 km. The fraction of tropical air entrained from the extra‐tropical stratosphere is 50% (+18%, −30%) at 20 km, increasing to 78% (+11%, −19%) at 28 km.