Articles | Volume 3, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-3-585-2010
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-3-585-2010
01 Nov 2010
 | 01 Nov 2010

The Lagrangian chemistry and transport model ATLAS: simulation and validation of stratospheric chemistry and ozone loss in the winter 1999/2000

I. Wohltmann, R. Lehmann, and M. Rex

Abstract. ATLAS is a new global Lagrangian Chemistry and Transport Model (CTM), which includes a stratospheric chemistry scheme with 46 active species, 171 reactions, heterogeneous chemistry on polar stratospheric clouds and a Lagrangian denitrification module. Lagrangian (trajectory-based) models have several important advantages over conventional Eulerian models, including the absence of spurious numerical diffusion, efficient code parallelization and no limitation of the largest time step by the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy criterion. This work describes and validates the stratospheric chemistry scheme of the model. Stratospheric chemistry is simulated with ATLAS for the Arctic winter 1999/2000, with a focus on polar ozone depletion and denitrification. The simulations are used to validate the chemistry module in comparison with measurements of the SOLVE/THESEO 2000 campaign. A Lagrangian denitrification module, which is based on the simulation of the nucleation, sedimentation and growth of a large number of polar stratospheric cloud particles, is used to model the substantial denitrification that occured in this winter.

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