Estimating numerical errors due to operator splitting in global atmospheric chemistry models: Transport and chemistry

We present upper bounds for the numerical errors introduced when using operator splitting methods to integrate transport and non-linear chemistry processes in global chemical transport models (CTM). We show that (a) operator splitting strategies that evaluate the stiff non-linear chemistry operator at the end of the time step are more accurate, and (b) the results of numerical simulations that use different operator splitting strategies differ by at most 10%, in a prototype one-dimensional non-linear chemistry-transport model. We find similar upper bounds in operator splitting numerical errors in global CTM simulations.