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At least 829 records · Page 46
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NASA NTRS1992

Measured trends in stratospheric ozone

Recent findings, based on both ground-based and satellite measurements, have established that there has been an apparent downward trend in the total column amount of ozone over mid-latitude areas of the Northern Hemisphere in all seasons. Measurements of the altitude profile of the change in the ozone concentration have established that decreases are taking place in the lower stratosphere in the region of highest ozone concentration. Analysis of updated ozone records, through March of 1991, including 29 stations in the former Soviet Union, and analysis of independently calibrated satellite data records from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment instruments confirm many of the findings originally derived from the Dobson record concerning northern midlatitude changes in ozone. The data from many instruments now provide a fairly consistent picture of the change that has occurred in stratospheric ozone levels.

Stolarski, Richard↗
NASA NTRS1992

Ozone response to a CO2 doubling - Results from a stratospheric circulation model with heterogeneous chemistry

A spectral 3D model of the stratosphere has been used to study the sensitivity of polar ozone with respect to a carbon dioxide increase. The lower stratospheric cooling associated with an imposed CO2 doubling may increase the probability of polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) formation and this affect ozone. The ozone perturbation obtained with the inclusion of a simple parameterization for heterogeneous chemistry on PSCs is compared to that relative to a pure homogeneous chemistry. In both cases the temperature perturbation is determined by a CO2 doubling, while the total chlorine content is kept at the present level. It is shown that the lower temperature may increase the depth and the extension of the ozone hole by extending the area amenable to PSC formation. It may be argued that this effect, coupled with an increasing amount of chlorine, may produce a positive feedback on the ozone destruction.

Pitari, G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Stratospheric sulfate aerosol in and near the Northern Hemisphere polar vortex - The morphology of the sulfate layer, multimodal size distributions, and the effect of denitrification

Measurements were made of stratospheric sulfate aerosols using a passive cavity aerosol spectrometer and a condensation nucleus counter on a NASA ER-2 aircraft in the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Experiment of 1989. The problems of representative and accurate sampling and particle evaporation were explicitly addressed in the design of the inlets and reduction of the data. The measurements suggest that the sulfate aerosol is bimodal in the polar vortex above the mass mixing ratio maximum in the sulfate layer. It appears that a nuclei mode of small, newly formed particles exists in this region. A stronger case is made for a nuclei mode in the upper few kilometers of the troposphere and in the lower few kilometers of the stratosphere. This mode is probably a global phenomenon occurring in all seasons. Comparison of denitrified and nondenitrified air suggests that denitrification removes some of the larger sulfate particles.

Wilson, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Preconditioning for stratospheric sudden warmings - Sensitivity studies with a numerical model

The phenomenon of preconditioning for sudden stratospheric warming events is investigated using a 3D primitive equation model adapted from the model used by Rose and Brasseur (1989). In order to identify the conditions that make the flow preconditioned, the model was initialized alternately with observed and with artificially constructed 'hybrid' stratospheric flow patterns. Two observed warmings were investigated, February 1979 and February 1989. The artificially constructed hybrid flow fields used upper-level winds (above 10 mb) from one period and lower-level winds (below 10 mb) from another. The results of model simulations indicate that the flow in the lower and middle stratosphere is capable of serving as a predictor of the potential for a major sudden warming, with the occurrence of a warming depending only on the lower-level winds.

Smith, Anne K.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A simulation of the effects of the National Aerospace Plane testing on the stratosphere using a two-dimensional model

A 2D photochemical model has been utilized to investigate the influence of testing of the NASP on the stratosphere. Effluents of H2, H2O, NO, NO2, OH, H, and O from the experimental vehicles are predicted to slightly disturb the stratosphere. The European Sanger spacecraft possible influence on the stratosphere has been simulated and is predicted to also be minor.

Jackman, Charles H.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A global analysis of the ozone deficit in the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere

The global measurements of temperature, ozone, water vapor, and nitrogen dioxide acquired by the Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS), supplemented by a precomputed distribution of chlorine monoxide, are used to test the balance between odd oxygen production and loss in the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere. An efficient photochemical equilibrium model, whose validity is ascertained by comparison with the results from a fully time-dependent one-dimensional model at selected latitudes, is used in the calculations. The computed ozone abundances are systematically lower than observations for May 1-7, 1979, which suggests, contrary to the conclusions of other recent studies, a real problem in model simulations of stratospheric ozone.

Eluszkiewicz, Janusz↗
NASA NTRS1992

Formation of model polar stratospheric cloud films

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to examine the competitive growth of films representative of polar stratospheric clouds. These experiments show that either crystalline nitric acid trihydrate (beta-NAT) or amorphous films with H2O:HNO3 ratios close to 3:1 formed at temperatures 3-7 K warmer than the ice frost point under stratospheric pressure conditions. In addition, with higher HNO3 pressure, we observed nitric acid dihydrate (NAD) formation at temperatures warmer than ice formation. However, our experiments also show that NAD surfaces converted to beta-NAT upon exposure to stratospheric water pressures. Finally, we determined that the net uptake coefficient for HNO3 on beta-NAT is close to unity, whereas the net uptake coefficient for H2O is much less.

Middlebrook, Ann M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Mountain-wave drag in the stratosphere and mesosphere inferred from observed winds and a simple mountain-wave parameterization scheme

A daily analysis of mountain-wave propagation through observed, global wind, and temperature fields in January and August is presented. Winds and temperatures are obtained from the daily 18-level NMC Climate Analysis Center. Mountain-wave properties are deduced from a simple, gravity wave parameterization scheme in which the effects of topographic anisotropy (ridge orientation) are explicitly included. Planetary waves in the northern winter stratosphere are found to play an important role in modulating the magnitude and distribution of inferred mountain-wave drag in the middle atmosphere. The Aleutian anticyclone is found to effectively block mountain waves generated over western North America from reaching the mesosphere by inducing local mountain-wave-critical levels in the stratosphere. Stratospheric sudden warmings have a similar effect at all longitudes so that during months with sudden warmings the average inferred drag in the mesosphere is reduced by a factor of 4 to 5 from its normal value. Partly as a consequence of larger planetary-wave filtering in the Northern Hemisphere, inferred mountain-wave drag in the southern winter mesosphere is found to be comparable to that in the northern winter mesosphere. Almost all of the mountain wave drag exerted on the southern middle atmosphere is found to originate over the southern Andes and Antarctic Peninsula.

Bacmeister, Julio T.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A global three-dimensional model of the stratospheric sulfuric acid layer

A 3D model which encompasses SO2 production from OCS, followed by its oxidation to gaseous H2SO4, the condensation-evaporation equilibrium of gaseous and particulate H2SO4, and finally particle condensation and rainout, is presently used to study processes maintaining the nonvolcanically-perturbed stratosphere's sulfuric acid layer. A comparison of the results thus obtained with remotely sensed stratospheric aerosol extinction data shows the model to simulate the general behavior of stratospheric aerosol extinction.

Golombek, Amram↗
NASA NTRS1993

Simulations of the trend and annual cycle in stratospheric CO2

Literature data on mid-latitude balloon soundings of CO2 and aircraft sampling in the lower polar stratosphere during the winter are used as a fundamental test of tracer transport in the middle atmospheric version of the GISS GCM (Rind et al., 1990) to predict the propagation into the stratosphere of the annual increase and annual cycle of CO2. The results predict significant propagation of the CO2 annual cycle into the lower stratosphere, an effect which must be accounted for when interpreting observations.

Hall, Timothy M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Interhemispheric comparison of the development of the stratospheric polar vortex during fall - A 3-dimensional perspective for 1991-1992

The development of the stratospheric polar vortex during fall and early winter in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) during 1991-1992, and the Southern Hemisphere (SH) during 1992 is examined using National Meteorological Center data. Compared to the NH, the polar vortex in the SH developed with less variability on short time scales, deepened more rapidly and continued to expand well into winter. Daily minimum temperatures in the lower stratosphere were lowest at equivalent seasonal dates in both hemispheres, but values below the condensation temperatures of polar stratospheric clouds occurred earlier, persisted much longer, and occupied a larger volume of air in the SH. These interhemispheric meteorological differences can account for some of the key features of the chlorine monoxide distributions observed by the Microwave Limb Sounder on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.

Manney, Gloria L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Simulations of the seasonal evolution of planetary waves in the stratosphere

Results are presented of experiments performed with the 3D primitive equation model of the middle atmosphere to elucidate the connections between the behavior of planetary waves in the stratosphere and in the upper troposphere during the seasonal cycle. In these experiments the geopotential height fields at the model's lower boundary consisted of a time-varying zonally symmetric component plus a time-independent wave 1. Experiments were also performed with the same time-varying zonally symmetric component plus a time-independent combination of wave 1 and 2. In each of the wave 1-only experiments, the wave 1 amplitude in the middle stratosphere has two maxima, one in fall and the other in spring, separated by a midwinter minimum. It is suggested that some important transient features in the seasonal evolution of stratospheric planetary waves do not depend on time variations in the amplitude or phase of the corresponding tropospheric waves.

Farrara, John D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Analysis of Antarctic stratospheric aerosol properties using SAGE II extinction measurements

Multispectra aerosol extinction data for the fall and spring of 1987 measured by the SAGE II sensor are employed to determine the physical characteristics of aerosols within the springtime Antarctic polar vortex. Attention is given to the physical processes that give rise to the apparent springtime 'cleansing' of the Antarctic stratosphere. The inferred vertical and radial structure compare favorably with in situ measurements but yield a previously unavailable 2D structure to the distribution of aerosols within the polar vortex. The springtime 'cleansing' of the Antarctic stratosphere is found to be a result of both large-scale subsidence and the preferential removal of large particles by the nucleation and subsequent sedimentation of polar stratospheric clouds.

Thomason, Larry W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Stratospheric models and measurements - A critical comparison

Attention is given to a program to compare stratospheric models and measurements to calculate the atmospheric effects of emissions of a projected fleet of High Speed Civil Transports on the stratosphere is presented. The goals of the effort is to establish a standard set of atmospheric measurements that can be used to test the reliability of atmospheric chemistry models, develop a method for evaluating model/data comparisons, and direct the first major international stratospheric model/data comparison.

Remsberg, Ellis E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Convectively generated stratospheric gravity waves - The role of mean wind shear

A two-dimensional numerical simulation of mid-latitude squall lines is used to study the properties of storm-induced stratospheric gravity waves. Owing to the tendency for convective cells to form at the forward edge of a squall line, and then propagate toward the rear, the simulated storms preferentially generate gravity waves that propagate toward the rear of the storm. This anisotropy in gravity wave generation leads to a net vertical transfer of momentum into the stratosphere. Cases with and without stratospheric mean wind shear are compared. In the latter case Doppler shifting of the waves to lower frequencies leads to wave breaking and enhanced wave - mean-flow interaction.

Holton, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Raman-Augmented Stratospheric-Ozone Lidar

Differential-absorption lidar (DIAL) system measures concentration of ozone in stratosphere augmented with subsystem measuring Raman scattering from nitrogen. One of number of DIAL systems used in long-term monitoring of stratospheric ozone. Raman scattering from nitrogen provides data to correct for effects of aerosols. Channels at wavelengths of 332 and 385 nm added to DIAL receiver to measure Raman backscattering from nitrogen molecules in stratosphere. Data-acquisition electronics sample photon counts at a rate of 250 MHz.

Mcdermid, I. Stuart↗
NASA NTRS1993

Studies of dynamical processes affecting the distribution of stratospheric ozone

The purpose of the research was to understand large-scale tracer transport processes in the stratosphere. Two approaches were taken. The first is analysis of tracer observations, especially satellite observations of ozone concentration and total column ozone. The second is numerical simulation of tracer transport processes. Topics researched include: quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and stratospheric ozone; mixing in the polar vortices; polar stratospheric clouds (PSC) properties from Antarctic lidar data; and statistical methods for numerical experiments.

Bowman, Kenneth P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Modeling of the partitioning of reactive odd nitrogen in the lower stratosphere using aircraft measurements of NOy, NO, and other trace species

The objective of this research was to gain a more thorough understanding of the atmospheric processes which control the partitioning of species within the reactive nitrogen (NO(y)) reservoir in the lower stratosphere. This understanding is crucial to predicting ozone loss in the stratosphere. NO(y) is defined as NO + NO2 + HNO3 + N2O5 + ClONO2 + HO2NO2 + NO3 + particulate nitrate. The research focuses on deriving the partitioning among these species using the combined set of measurements from the NASA ER-2 aircraft during recent missions designed to study stratospheric ozone depletion.

Kawa, Stephan Randolph↗