Stratosphere-troposphere exchange ozone flux related to deep convection

We study the mechanisms driving stratosphere-troposphere exchange of ozone fluxes within a chemistry-transport model. For years 2004-2006, year-round, most of the stratosphere-to-troposphere flux of O-3 is associated with shear and folding around the subtropical jet, and this jet-related flux peaks for the northern hemisphere in May. Over the northern mid-latitude continents, however, surface convection penetrates to stratospheric levels of O-3 (250 ppb), enhancing the O-3 flux by 19% of the northern hemisphere total, and shifting the peak flux to June. This convection-related O-3 flux represents 49% of the total over northern mid-latitudes in June. Citation: Tang, Q., M. J. Prather, and J. Hsu (2011), Stratosphere-troposphere exchange ozone flux related to deep convection, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L03806, doi:10.1029/2010GL046039.