Bromine partitioning in the tropical tropopause layer: implications for stratospheric injection

Abstract

Abstract. Very short-lived (VSL) bromocarbons are produced at a prodigious rate by ocean biology and these source compounds (SGVSL), together with their degradation inorganic products (PGVSL), are lofted by vigorous convection to the tropical tropopause layer (TTL). Using a state-of-the-art photochemical mechanism within a global model, we calculate annual average stratospheric injection of total bromine due to VSL sources to be 5 pptv, with ~3 pptv entering the stratosphere as PGVSL and ~2 pptv as SGVSL. The geographic distribution and partitioning of VSL bromine within the TTL, and its consequent stratospheric injection, is highly dependent on the oceanic flux, the strength of convection and the occurrence of heterogeneous recycling reactions. Our calculations indicate atomic Br should be the dominant inorganic species in large regions of the TTL during daytime, due to the low ozone and cold conditions of this region. We propose the existence of a "tropical ring of atomic bromine" located approximately between 15 and 19 km and 30° N to 30° S. Daytime Br / BrO ratios of up to ~4 are predicted within the Br ring in regions of highly convective transport, such as the tropical Western Pacific. Then, we suggest experimental programs designed to quantify the bromine budget of the TTL and the stratospheric injection of VSL biogenic bromocarbons should include a strategy for the measurement of atomic Br during daytime and HOBr or BrCl during nighttime.