| Volumes and Issues Contents of Issue 5 |
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/13271/2007/
© Author(s) 2007. This work is licensed
under a Creative Commons License.
Properties of polar stratospheric clouds obtained by combined ACE-FTS and ACE-Imager extinction measurements
1Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 Canada
2Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, Ontario, Canada
Abstract. We report the compositions and size distributions of aerosol particles in typical polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) observed between 24 January and 28 February 2005 in the Arctic stratosphere. The results are obtained by combining the extinction measurements made by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) Fourier-Transform Spectrometer and the visible/near IR imagers on the SCISAT satellite. The extended wavenumber range provided by this combination (750 to 20 000 cm−1) enables the retrieval of aerosol particle sizes between 0.05 and 10 μm as well as providing extensive information about the compositions. Our results indicate that liquid ternary solutions with a high (>30 wt%) content of HNO3 were the most probable component of the clouds at the (60–70° N) latitudes accessible by ACE. The mean size of these ternary aerosol particles is in the range of 0.3 to 0.8 μm. Less abundant, although still frequent, were clouds composed of NAT particles having radii in the range of 1 μm and clouds of ice particles having mean radii in the 4–5 μm range. In some cases, these last two types were found in the same observation.
Discussion Paper (PDF, 558 KB) Interactive Discussion (Final Response, 4 Comments)
Citation: Zasetsky, A. Y., Gilbert, K., Galkina, I., McLeod, S., and Sloan, J. J.: Properties of polar stratospheric clouds obtained by combined ACE-FTS and ACE-Imager extinction measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 7, 13271-13290, 2007. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
