The Superstatistical Nature and Interoccurrence Time of Atmospheric Mercury Concentration Fluctuations

• Published in: Journal of geophysical research. Atmospheres 2018-01, Vol.123 (2), p.764-774
• Main Authors: Carbone, F., Bruno, A. G., Naccarato, A., De Simone, F., Gencarelli, C. N., Sprovieri, F., Hedgecock, I. M., Landis, M. S., Skov, H., Pfaffhuber, K. A., Read, K. A., Martin, L., Angot, H., Dommergue, A., Magand, O., Pirrone, N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmospheric composition; Atmospheric mercury; Atmospheric turbulence; Autocorrelation; Autocorrelation function; Autocorrelation functions; Data; Data processing; Distribution; Dynamics; Exponential functions; Fluctuations; Frameworks; Geophysics; interoccurrence times; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Mercury atmosphere; Probability density function; Probability density functions; Probability distribution functions; Probability theory; Sciences of the Universe; superstatistics; universal scaling
• ISSN: 2169-897X; 2169-8996
• DOI: 10.1002/2017JD027384

The probability density function (PDF) of the time intervals between subsequent extreme events in atmospheric Hg0 concentration data series from different latitudes has been investigated. The Hg0 dynamic possesses a long‐term memory autocorrelation function. Above a fixed threshold Q in the data, the PDFs of the interoccurrence time of the Hg0 data are well described by a Tsallis q‐exponential function. This PDF behavior has been explained in the framework of superstatistics, where the competition between multiple mesoscopic processes affects the macroscopic dynamics. An extensive parameter μ, encompassing all possible fluctuations related to mesoscopic phenomena, has been identified. It follows a χ2 distribution, indicative of the superstatistical nature of the overall process. Shuffling the data series destroys the long‐term memory, the distributions become independent of Q, and the PDFs collapse on to the same exponential distribution. The possible central role of atmospheric turbulence on extreme events in the Hg0 data is highlighted. Key Points Superstatistics of atmospheric Hg0 concentration extremes is demonstrated via the probability density functions of the interoccurrence time The statistics of interoccurrence times has been related to the long‐term memory of Hg0 concentrations via Tsallis q statistics Universal scaling in atmospheric Hg0 concentration extremes was found, a possible link to atmospheric turbulence is suggested