Evaluation of a Lagrangian box model using field measurements from EASE (Eastern Atlantic Summer Experiment) 1996

The Cambridge Tropospheric Trajectory model of Chemistry and Transport (CiTTyCAT), a Lagrangian chemistry model, has burn evaluated using atmospheric chemical measurements collected during the East Atlantic Summer Experiment 1996 (EASE '96), This field campaign was part of the UK Natural Environment Research Council's (NERC) Atmospheric Chemistry Studies in the Oceanic Environment (ACSOE) programme, conducted at Mace Head, Republic of Ireland, during July and August 1996. The model includes a description of gas-phase tropospheric chemistry, and simple parameterisations for surface deposition, mixing from the free troposphere and emissions. The model generally compares well with the measurements and is used to study the production and loss of O-3 under a variety of conditions. The mean difference between the hourly O-3 concentrations calculated by the model and those measured is 0.6 ppbv with a standard deviation of 8.7 ppbv. Three specific air-flow regimes were identified during the campaign - westerly, anticyclonic (easterly) and south westerly. The westerly how is typical of background conditions for Mace Head. However, on some occasions there was evidence of long-range transport of pollutants from North America. In periods of anticyclonic flow, air parcels had collected emissions of NOx and VOCs immediately before arriving at Mace Head, leading to O-3 production. The level of calculated O-3 depends critically on the precise details of the trajectory, and hence on the emissions into the air parcel. In several periods of south westerly flow, low concentrations of O-3 were measured which were consistent with deposition and photochemical destruction inside the tropical marine boundary layer. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.