Transport parameterization of the Polar SWIFT model (version 2)

Abstract

The Polar SWIFT model is a fast scheme for calculating the chemistry of stratospheric ozone depletion in the polar vortex in winter. It is intended for use in general circulation models (GCMs) and earth system models (ESMs) to enable the simulation of interactions between the ozone layer and climate when a full stratospheric chemistry scheme is computationally too expensive. In addition to the simulation of chemistry, ozone has to be transported in the GCM. As an alternative to the general schemes for the transport and mixing of tracers in the GCMs, a parameterization of the transport of ozone can be used in order to obtain the total change of ozone as the sum of the change by transport and by chemistry. One of the benefits of this approach is the easy and self-contained coupling to a GCM. Another potential advantage is that a transport parameterization based on reanalysis data and measurements can avoid deficiencies in the representation of transport in the GCMs, such as deficits in the representation of the Brewer-Dobson circulation caused by the gravity wave parameterization. Hence, we present a transport parameterization for the Polar SWIFT model that simulates the change in vortex-averaged ozone by transport in a fast and simple way without the need for a complex transport scheme in the GCM.