Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics www.atmos-chem-phys.net 1680-7316 1680-7324 7 11 2007 10.5194/acp-7-2987-2007 http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/7/2987/2007/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/7/2987/2007/acp-7-2987-2007.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/7/2987/2007/acp-7-2987-2007.pdf 2987 3013 2007-06-12 Lightning-produced NOx over Brazil during TROCCINOX: airborne measurements in tropical and subtropical thunderstorms and the importance of mesoscale convective systems H. Huntrieser heidi.huntrieser@dlr.de H. Schlager A. Roiger M. Lichtenstern U. Schumann C. Kurz D. Brunner C. Schwierz A. Richter A. Stohl Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Weßling, Germany Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP), University of Bremen, Germany Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), Dept. Regional and Global Pollution Issues, Kjeller, Norway now at: Laboratory for Air Pollution and Environmental Technology, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Dübendorf, Switzerland During the TROCCINOX field experiments in February–March 2004 and February 2005, airborne in situ measurements of NO, NOy, CO, and O3 mixing ratios and the J(NO2) photolysis rate were carried out in the anvil outflow of thunderstorms over southern Brazil. Both tropical and subtropical thunderstorms were investigated, depending on the location of the South Atlantic convergence zone. Tropical air masses were discriminated from subtropical ones according to the higher equivalent potential temperature (Θe) in the lower and mid troposphere, the higher CO mixing ratio in the mid troposphere, and the lower wind velocity in the upper troposphere within the Bolivian High (north of the subtropical jet stream). During thunderstorm anvil penetrations, typically at 20–40 km horizontal scales, NOx mixing ratios were distinctly enhanced and the absolute mixing ratios varied between 0.2–1.6 nmol mol−1 on average. This enhancement was mainly attributed to NOx production by lightning and partly due to upward transport from the NOx-richer boundary layer. In addition, CO mixing ratios were occasionally enhanced, indicating upward transport from the boundary layer. For the first time, the composition of the anvil outflow from a large, long-lived mesoscale convective system (MCS) advected from northern Argentina and Uruguay was investigated in more detail. Over a horizontal scale of about 400 km, NOx, CO and O3 absolute mixing ratios were significantly enhanced in these air masses in the range of 0.6–1.1, 110–140 and 60–70 nmol mol−1, respectively. 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