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Model Analysis of the Factors Regulating Trends and Variability of Methane, Carbon Monoxide and OH: 1. Model ValidationMethane (CH4) is the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG). Its 100-year global warming potential (GWP) is 25 times larger than that for carbon dioxide. The 100-yr integrated GWP of CH4 is sensitive to changes in OH levels. Methane's atmospheric growth rate was estimated to be more than 10 ppb yr(exp -1) in 1998 but less than zero in 2001, 2004 and 2005 (Kirschke et al., 2013). Since 2006, the CH4 is increasing again. This phenomena is yet not well understood. Oxidation of CH4 by OH is the main loss process, thus affecting the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere and contributing to the global ozone background. Current models typically use an annual cycle of offline OH fields to simulate CH4. The implemented OH fields in these models are typically tuned so that simulated CH4 growth rates match that measured. For future and climate simulations, the OH tuning technique may not be suitable. In addition, running full chemistry, multi-decadal CH4 simulations is a serious challenge and currently, due to computational intensity, almost impossible.
Document ID
20150001456
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Presentation
Authors
Elshorbany, Y. F.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Strode, S.
(Universities Space Research Association Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Wang, J.
(Universities Space Research Association Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Duncan, B.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
February 10, 2015
Publication Date
December 15, 2014
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN19915
Meeting Information
Meeting: AGU Fall Meeting 2014
Location: San Francisco, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: December 15, 2014
End Date: December 19, 2014
Sponsors: American Geophysical Union
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG11HP16A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX12AD03A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
OH
Methane
Greenhouse Gases
oxidzing capacity
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