Steady-state aerosol distributions in the extra-tropical, lower stratosphere and the processes that maintain them
Jonsson_Steady-state_acp-8-6617-2008.pdf (1.207Mb)Date
2008Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Measurements of aerosol, N2O and OCS made
in the Northern Hemisphere below 21 km altitude following
the eruption of Pinatubo are presented and analyzed. After
September 1999, the oxidation of OCS and sedimentation
of particles in the extra-tropical overworld north of 45N are
found to maintain the aerosol in a steady state. This analysis
empirically links precursor gas to aerosol abundance
throughout this region. These processes are tracked with ageof-
air which offers advantages over tracking as a function of
latitude and altitude. In the extra-tropical, lowermost stratosphere,
normalized volume distributions appear constant in
time after the fall of 1999. Exchange with the troposphere is
important in understanding aerosol evolution there. Size distributions
of volcanically perturbed aerosol are included to
distinguish between volcanic and non-volcanic conditions.
This analysis suggests that model failures to correctly predict
OCS and aerosol properties below 20 km in the Northern
Hemisphere extra tropics result from inadequate descriptions
of atmospheric circulation.
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