Levy, H. , II, J. D. Mahlman, and W. J. Moxim, 1979: Preliminary report on the numerical simulation of the three-dimensional structure and variability of atmospheric N₂O. Geophysical Research Letters, 6 (3), 155-158.

Abstract: A numerical simulation of atmospheric N₂O using the GFDL 3-D tracer model with a small uniform surface source (15 Mton yr^-1) and stratospheric destruction (150-yr lifetime) was run to a state near transport and chemical statistical equilibrium. The resu lting N₂O tropospheric distribution is relatively uniform with a slight excess in the Southern Hemisphere. In the model stratosphere, there is a sharp poleward decrease in N₂O mixing ratio away from high values in the Tropics, with pronounced winter minima at 50 degrees S and 60 degrees N. Even with the small uniform surface source, relative standard deviations of N₂O in the surface layer range from 0.1 to 0.8%, are well within the range of recent measurements. Additional experiments suggest that motions acting upon N₂O accumulation in the source region boundary layer and upon the mixing ratio gradient between the troposphere and lower stratosphere are the major sources of tropospheric N₂O variability.