The authors present results obtained during the chemistry-transport modeling (CTM) component of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis Multimodel Intercomparison Project (AMMAMIP) using the recently developed L3JRCv2 emission dataset for Africa, where emphasis is placed on the summer of 2006. With the use of passive tracers, the authors show that the application of different parameterizations to describe advection, vertical diffusion, and convective mixing in a suite of state-of-the-art global CTMs results in significantly different transport mechanisms westward of the African continent. Moreover, the authors identify that the atmospheric composition over the southern Atlantic is governed by air masses originating from southern Africa for this period, resulting in maximal concentrations around 5°S. Comparisons with ozonesonde measurements at Cotonou (6.2°N, 2.2°E) indicate that the models generally overpredict surface ozone and underpredict ozone in the upper troposphere. Moreover, using recent aircraft measurements, the authors show that the high ozone concentrations that occur around 700 hPa around 5°N are not captured by any of the models, indicating shortcomings in the description of transport, the magnitude and/or location of emissions, or the in situ chemical ozone production by the various chemical mechanisms employed.
KNMI, De Bilt, Netherlands
LATMOS, IPSL, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
CNRM -GAME, Météo-France/CNRS, Toulouse, France
Centre for Atmospheric Science, and Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Laborotorie d'Aéronomie, University de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
Laboratoire de Météorologie et Dynamique, CNRS, IPSL, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement/IPSL, CEA, CNRS, and UVSQ, L'Orme des Merisiers, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
