Carbon monoxide (CO) maximum over the Zagros mountains in the Middle East: Signature of mountain venting?

Jayanta Kar; James R. Drummond; Dylan B.A. Jones; Jane Liu; Florian Nichitiu; Jason Zou; John C. Gille; David P. Edwards; Merritt N. Deeter

doi:10.1029/2006GL026231

Carbon monoxide (CO) maximum over the Zagros mountains in the Middle East: Signature of mountain venting?

Jayanta Kar, James R. Drummond, Dylan B.A. Jones, Jane Liu, Florian Nichitiu, Jason Zou, John C. Gille, David P. Edwards, Merritt N. Deeter

Atmospheric Composition Remote Sensing and Prediction

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Abstract

We report an intriguing feature observed in daytime measurements of CO over the Middle East, in spring and summer, by the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) satellite instrument. Enhanced CO is observed over the Zagros mountains of Iran, following the local topography over this region (25-40N, 40-60E). The MOPITT averaging kernels do not seem to indicate any data artifacts in this area. We argue that this feature likely forms by the process of mountain venting by thermal winds caused by strong daytime differential heating. This is consistent with an analysis of vertical velocity in the NCEP reanalysis data in this region. The phenomenon was observed in all the years of available MOPITT measurements and may have implications for the pollution episodes in the region and the Middle East ozone maximum that has been observed earlier.

Original language	English
Article number	L15819
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	33
Issue number	15
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL026231
State	Published - Aug 2006

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title = "Carbon monoxide (CO) maximum over the Zagros mountains in the Middle East: Signature of mountain venting?",

abstract = "We report an intriguing feature observed in daytime measurements of CO over the Middle East, in spring and summer, by the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) satellite instrument. Enhanced CO is observed over the Zagros mountains of Iran, following the local topography over this region (25-40N, 40-60E). The MOPITT averaging kernels do not seem to indicate any data artifacts in this area. We argue that this feature likely forms by the process of mountain venting by thermal winds caused by strong daytime differential heating. This is consistent with an analysis of vertical velocity in the NCEP reanalysis data in this region. The phenomenon was observed in all the years of available MOPITT measurements and may have implications for the pollution episodes in the region and the Middle East ozone maximum that has been observed earlier.",

author = "Jayanta Kar and Drummond, \{James R.\} and Jones, \{Dylan B.A.\} and Jane Liu and Florian Nichitiu and Jason Zou and Gille, \{John C.\} and Edwards, \{David P.\} and Deeter, \{Merritt N.\}",

year = "2006",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1029/2006GL026231",

language = "English",

volume = "33",

journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",

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publisher = "John Wiley and Sons Inc.",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Carbon monoxide (CO) maximum over the Zagros mountains in the Middle East

T2 - Signature of mountain venting?

AU - Kar, Jayanta

AU - Drummond, James R.

AU - Jones, Dylan B.A.

AU - Liu, Jane

AU - Nichitiu, Florian

AU - Zou, Jason

AU - Gille, John C.

AU - Edwards, David P.

AU - Deeter, Merritt N.

PY - 2006/8

Y1 - 2006/8

N2 - We report an intriguing feature observed in daytime measurements of CO over the Middle East, in spring and summer, by the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) satellite instrument. Enhanced CO is observed over the Zagros mountains of Iran, following the local topography over this region (25-40N, 40-60E). The MOPITT averaging kernels do not seem to indicate any data artifacts in this area. We argue that this feature likely forms by the process of mountain venting by thermal winds caused by strong daytime differential heating. This is consistent with an analysis of vertical velocity in the NCEP reanalysis data in this region. The phenomenon was observed in all the years of available MOPITT measurements and may have implications for the pollution episodes in the region and the Middle East ozone maximum that has been observed earlier.

AB - We report an intriguing feature observed in daytime measurements of CO over the Middle East, in spring and summer, by the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) satellite instrument. Enhanced CO is observed over the Zagros mountains of Iran, following the local topography over this region (25-40N, 40-60E). The MOPITT averaging kernels do not seem to indicate any data artifacts in this area. We argue that this feature likely forms by the process of mountain venting by thermal winds caused by strong daytime differential heating. This is consistent with an analysis of vertical velocity in the NCEP reanalysis data in this region. The phenomenon was observed in all the years of available MOPITT measurements and may have implications for the pollution episodes in the region and the Middle East ozone maximum that has been observed earlier.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/33845628452

U2 - 10.1029/2006GL026231

DO - 10.1029/2006GL026231

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:33845628452

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 33

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 15

M1 - L15819

ER -

Carbon monoxide (CO) maximum over the Zagros mountains in the Middle East: Signature of mountain venting?

Abstract

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