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The role of molecular hydrogen and methane oxidation in the water vapour budget of the stratosphereThe detailed photochemistry of methane oxidation has been studied in a coupled chemical/dynamical model of the middle atmosphere. The photochemistry of formaldehyde plays an important role in determining the production of water vapor from methane oxidation. At high latitudes, the production and transport of molecular hydrogen is particularly important in determining the water vapor distribution. It is shown that the ratio of the methane vertical gradient to the water vapor vertical gradient at any particular latitude should not be expected to be precisely 2, due both to photochemical and dynamical effects. Modeled H2O profiles are compared with measurements from the Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) experiment at various latitudes. Molecular hydrogen is shown to be responsible for the formation of a secondary maximum displayed by the model water vapor profiles in high latitude summer, a feature also found in the LIMS data.
Document ID
19880053799
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Le Texier, H.
(Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, CO; CNRS, Service d'Aeronomie Verrieres-le-Buisson, France)
Solomon, S.
(NOAA Boulder, CO, United States)
Garcia, R. R.
(National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, CO, United States)
Date Acquired
August 13, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1988
Publication Information
Publication: Royal Meteorological Society, Quarterly Journal
Volume: 114
ISSN: 0035-9009
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
88A41026
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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