DMS Uplift by Tropical Cyclones as a Source of SO2 in the Upper Troposphere
Year: 2026
Authors: Jiao G.J., Lou S.J., Liu T.Y., Lin H.X., Wang X.Q., Pan L.L., Hornbrook R.S., Apel E.C., Rollins A.W., Thornberry T.D., Viciani S., D’Amato F., Dong X., Huang X., Ding A.J.
Autors Affiliation: Nanjing Univ, State Key Lab Severe Weather Meteorol Sci & Techno, Nanjing, Peoples R China; Nanjing Univ, Joint Int Res Lab Atmospher & Earth Syst Sci JirLA, Nanjing, Peoples R China; Nanjing Univ, Sch Atmospher Sci, Nanjing, Peoples R China; Tsinghua Univ, Sch Environm, State Key Joint Lab Environm Simulat & Pollut Cont, Beijing, Peoples R China; NSF Natl Ctr Atmospher Res, Atmospher Chem Observat & Modeling Lab, Boulder, CO USA; NOAA, Chem Sci Lab, Boulder, CO USA; CNR, INO, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
Abstract: Airborne observations from ACCLIP on 2 August 2022, combined with Lagrangian particle dispersion model back trajectories, reveal that SO2 mixing ratios at 14-16 km were enhanced by a factor of 4-6 in regions influenced by tropical cyclones (TCs). These enhancements are linked to rapid lofting of marine dimethyl sulfide (DMS) into the upper troposphere (UT). GEOS-Chem simulations indicated that on 31 July 2022, TC-scale circulation injected DMS into the UT within hours, with a mean flux of 9.4 kg hr-1 across 0.5-12 km and 8.4% of emissions penetrating above 12 km, consistent with observations of elevated DMS at the same altitudes. Because of its low solubility and longer UT lifetime (59.2 vs. 5.7 hr at the surface), DMS sustains SO2 production that is largely resistant to wet scavenging. This TC-driven pathway provides a significant natural SO2 source in the UT, with implications for aerosol-cloud-climate interactions.
Journal/Review: GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume: 53 (7) Pages from: e2025GL119981-1 to: e2025GL119981-1
More Information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42588101), GEOX Interdisciplinary Project of Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Grant 20250208, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovati on Center for Climate Change of Nanjing University. We are also grateful to the High-Performance Computing at Nanjing University for doing the numerical calculations for this study on its Blade cluster system. This material is based upon work supported by the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is a major facility sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement No. 1852977. The GV data were collected using NSF’s Lower Atmosphere Observing Facilities, which are managed and operated by NSF NCAR’s Earth Observing Laboratory. The COLD2 deployment was funded by the European Space Agency contract QA4EO486 ACCLIP.KeyWords: DMS; tropical cyclone; SO2; upper troposphere; vertical transportDOI: 10.1029/2025GL119981
