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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • carbonyl sulfide
  • ACE
  • stratosphere

Index Terms

  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Middle atmosphere: composition and chemistry
  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere: composition and chemistry
  • Global Change: Sea level change
  • Biogeosciences: Trace gases
  • Biogeosciences: Sulfur cycling

Abstract

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 35, L14810, 7 PP., 2008
doi:10.1029/2008GL034270

Global distributions of carbonyl sulfide in the upper troposphere and stratosphere

Michael P. Barkley

School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Paul I. Palmer

School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Chris D. Boone

Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Peter F. Bernath

Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Department of Chemistry, University of York, UK

Parvadha Suntharalingam

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

School of Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

We present the first upper tropospheric and stratospheric global distributions of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) observed from space using solar occultation measurements made by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) satellite Fourier transform spectrometer during 2004–2006. We observe high OCS mixing ratios (>400 pptv) within the tropical stratosphere owing to convected tropospheric air. Stratospheric mixing ratios decrease more rapidly with altitude moving away from the Equator, creating a poleward gradient. Elevated OCS concentrations observed at low southern latitudes are consistent with a significant pyrogenic source. Using coincident ACE measurements of CFC-11 and CFC-12 we determine a global OCS stratospheric lifetime of 64 ± 21 years corresponding to a stratospheric sink of 63–124 Gg OCS yr−1.

Received 8 April 2008; accepted 11 June 2008; published 26 July 2008.

Citation: Barkley, M. P., P. I. Palmer, C. D. Boone, P. F. Bernath, and P. Suntharalingam (2008), Global distributions of carbonyl sulfide in the upper troposphere and stratosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L14810, doi:10.1029/2008GL034270.

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