A study of stratosphere-to-troposphere transfer using radioactive tracer data in a one-dimensional parameterization. Final report

Technical Report · Fri Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:6193295

Bauer, E

This paper reviews radioactive tracer data to determine effective stratosphere-to-troposphere transfer rates for a one-dimensional parameterization. The basic data used are the time-dependent global stratospheric burdens of Zr95 following six Chinese thermonuclear explosions 1967-1976, and also the falloff in burdens of Sr-90 and excess C-14 following the very large Soviet and U.S. test series of 1961-1962. Results of the Chinese explosions demonstrate that transfer of material from stratosphere to troposphere is fast in winter but slow in the summer of initial injection. It is best modeled by a seasonally varying eddy diffusivity profile, showing 'fast' transport (e.g., Dickinson-Chang, Danielsen) for a winter injection, and fast transport delayed to the next winter for a summer injection. Cloud rise height for the 1961-1962 tests is not well known, and so two models for the yield-altitude curve are used: a 'high' (Foley-Ruderman) and a 'low' (Seitz) model. The overall time variation in stratospheric burden of Sr-90 and in stratospheric and tropospheric burdens of C-14 can be simulated best by relatively fast falloff, i.e., by using a low injection height (Seitz) and fast transport (e.g., Dickinson-Chang). The difference in falloff rate of stratospheric burdens of Sr-90 and of C-14 is due principally to the recycling of C-14 (as CO/sub 2/) from the troposphere, with minor corrections due to sedimentation of the aerosols carrying Sr-90 and the difference in effective injection height of these two tracers.

• Research Organization: Institute for Defense Analyses, Arlington, VA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6193295
• Report Number(s): AD-A-092841
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500300* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ASIA
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON 14
CARBON ISOTOPES
CHEMISTRY
CHINA
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXPLOSIONS
FALLOUT
FISSION PRODUCTS
GLOBAL ASPECTS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
NUCLEI
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
POLLUTION
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOISOTOPES
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
STRATOSPHERE
STRONTIUM 90
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
THERMONUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
TROPOSPHERE
VARIATIONS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ZIRCONIUM 95
ZIRCONIUM ISOTOPES