Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model FLEXPART Research Articles

A Lagrangian Analysis of the Atmospheric Branch of the Global Water Cycle. Part II: Moisture Transports between Earth’s Ocean Basins and River Catchments

Abstract A diagnostic Lagrangian method to trace the budgets of freshwater fluxes, first described in Part I of this article, is used here to establish source–sink relationships of moisture between earth’s ocean basins and river catchments. Using the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART, driven with meteorological analyses, 1.1 million particles, representing the mass of the atmosphere, were tracked over a period of 4 yr. Via diagnosis of the changes of specific humidity along the trajectories, budgets of evaporation minus precipitation (E − P) were determined. For validation purposes, E − P budgets were calculated for 39 river catchments and compared with climatological streamflow data for these rivers. Good agreement (explained variance 87%) was found between the two quantities. The E − P budgets were then tracked forward from all of earth’s ocean basins and backward from the 39 major river catchments for a period of 10 days. As much previous work was done for the Mississippi basin, this basin was chosen for a detailed analysis. Moisture recycling over the continent and moisture transport from the Gulf of Mexico were identified as the major sources for precipitation over the Mississippi basin, in quantitative agreement with previous studies. In the remainder of the paper, global statistics for source–sink relationships of moisture between the ocean basins and river catchments are presented. They show, for instance, the evaporative capacity of monsoonal flows for precipitation over the Ganges and Niger catchments, and the transport of moisture from both hemispheres to supply the Amazon’s precipitation. In contrast, precipitation in northern Eurasia draws its moisture mainly via recycling over the continent. The atmospheric transport of moisture between different ocean basins was also investigated. It was found that transport of air from the North Pacific produces net evaporation over the North Atlantic, but not vice versa. This helps to explain why the sea surface salinity is higher in the North Atlantic than in the North Pacific, a difference thought to be an important driver of the oceans’ thermohaline circulation. Finally, limitations of the method are discussed and possible future developments are outlined.

Technical note: The Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART version 6.2

Abstract. The Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART was originally (about 8 years ago) designed for calculating the long-range and mesoscale dispersion of air pollutants from point sources, such as after an accident in a nuclear power plant. In the meantime FLEXPART has evolved into a comprehensive tool for atmospheric transport modeling and analysis. Its application fields were extended from air pollution studies to other topics where atmospheric transport plays a role (e.g., exchange between the stratosphere and troposphere, or the global water cycle). It has evolved into a true community model that is now being used by at least 25 groups from 14 different countries and is seeing both operational and research applications. A user manual has been kept actual over the years and was distributed over an internet page along with the model's source code. In this note we provide a citeable technical description of FLEXPART's latest version (6.2).

Forecasting for a Lagrangian aircraft campaign

Abstract. A forecast system has been developed in preparation for an upcoming aircraft measurement campaign, where the same air parcels polluted by emissions over North America shall be sampled repeatedly as they leave the continent, during transport over the Atlantic, and upon their arrival over Europe. This paper describes the model system in advance of the campaign, in order to make the flight planners familiar with the novel model output. The aim of a Lagrangian strategy is to infer changes in the chemical composition and aerosol distribution occurring en route by measured upwind/downwind differences. However, guiding aircraft repeatedly into the same polluted air parcels requires careful forecasting, for which no suitable model system exists to date. This paper describes a procedure using both Eulerian-type (i.e. concentration fields) and Lagrangian-type (i.e. trajectories) model output from the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART to predict the best opportunities for a Lagrangian experiment. The best opportunities are defined as being highly polluted air parcels which receive little or no emission input after the first measurement, which experience relatively little mixing, and which are reachable by as many aircraft as possible. For validation the system was applied to the period of the NARE 97 campaign where approximately the same air masses were sampled on different flights. Measured upwind/downwind differences in carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3) decreased significantly as the threshold values used for accepting cases as Lagrangian were tightened. This proves that the model system can successfully identify Lagrangian opportunities.

Intercontinental transport of nitrogen oxide pollution plumes

Abstract. We describe the first satellite observation of intercontinental transport of nitrogen oxides emitted by power plants, verified by simulations with a particle tracer model. The analysis of such episodes shows that anthropogenic NOx plumes may influence the atmospheric chemistry thousands of kilometers away from its origin, as well as the ocean they traverse due to nitrogen fertilization. This kind of monitoring became possible by applying an improved algorithm to extract the tropospheric fraction of NO2 from the spectral data coming from the GOME instrument. As an example we show the observation of NO2 in the time period 4--14 May, 1998, from the South African Plateau to Australia which was possible due to favourable weather conditions during that time period which availed the satellite measurement. This episode was also simulated with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART which uses NOx emissions taken from an inventory for industrial emissions in South Africa and is driven with analyses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Additionally lightning emissions were taken into account by utilizing Lightning Imaging Sensor data. Lightning was found to contribute probably not more than 25% of the resulting concentrations. Both, the measured and simulated emission plume show matching patterns while traversing the Indian Ocean to Australia and show great resemblance to the aerosol and CO2 transport observed by Piketh et al. (2000).

Validation of the lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART against large-scale tracer experiment data

A comprehensive validation of FLEXPART, a recently developed Lagrangian particle dispersion model based on meteorological data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, is described in this paper. Measurement data from three large-scale tracer experiments, the Cross-Appalachian Tracer Experiment (CAPTEX), the Across North America Tracer Experiment (ANATEX) and the European Tracer Experiment (ETEX) are used for this purpose. The evaluation is based entirely on comparisons of model results and measurements paired in space and time. It is found that some of the statistical parameters often used for model validation are extremely sensitive to small measurement errors and should not be used in future studies. 40 cases of tracer dispersion are studied, allowing a validation of the model performance under a variety of different meteorological conditions. The model usually performs very well under undisturbed meteorological conditions, but it is less skilful in the presence of fronts. The two ETEX cases reveal the full range of the model’s skill, with the first one being among the best cases studied, and the second one being, by far, the worst. The model performance in terms of the statistical parameters used stays rather constant with time over the periods (up to 117 h) studied here. It is shown that the method used to estimate the concentrations at the receptor locations has a significant effect on the evaluation results. The vertical wind component sometimes has a large influence on the model results, but on the average only a slight improvement over simulations which neglect the vertical wind can be demonstrated. Subgrid variability of mixing heights is important and must be accounted for.