El niño-southern oscillation influence on tropospheric mercury concentrations
Slemr, Franz Brenninkmeijer, Carl A. Rauthe-Schöch, Armin Weigelt, Andreas Ebinghaus, Ralf Brunke, Ernst-Günther Martin, Lynwill Spain, T. Gerard O'Doherty, Simon
Slemr, Franz
Brenninkmeijer, Carl A.
Rauthe-Schöch, Armin
Weigelt, Andreas
Ebinghaus, Ralf
Brunke, Ernst-Günther
Martin, Lynwill
Spain, T. Gerard
O'Doherty, Simon
Repository DOI
Publication Date
2016-02-25
Type
Article
Downloads
Citation
Slemr, Franz; Brenninkmeijer, Carl A. Rauthe-Schöch, Armin; Weigelt, Andreas; Ebinghaus, Ralf; Brunke, Ernst-Günther; Martin, Lynwill; Spain, T. Gerard; O'Doherty, Simon (2016). El niño-southern oscillation influence on tropospheric mercury concentrations. Geophysical Research Letters 43 (4), 1766-1771
Abstract
The El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects the tropospheric concentrations of many trace gases. Here we investigate the ENSO influence on mercury concentrations measured in the upper troposphere during Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrumented Container flights and at ground at Cape Point, South Africa, and Mace Head, Ireland. Mercury concentrations cross-correlate with Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) with a lag of 8 +/- 2 months. Highest mercury concentrations are always found at the most negative SOI values, i.e., 8 months after El Nino, and the amplitude of the interannual variations fluctuates between similar to 5 and 18%. The time lag is similar to that of CO whose interannual variations are driven largely by emissions from biomass burning (BB). The amplitude of the interannual variability of tropospheric mercury concentrations is consistent with the estimated variations in mercury emissions from BB. We thus conclude that BB is a major factor driving the interannual variation of tropospheric mercury concentrations.
Funder
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher DOI
10.1002/2016gl067949
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland