We present a new method for calculating backscatter ratios of the stratospheric sulfate aerosol (SSA) layer from daytime and nighttime lidar measurements. Using this new method we show a first year-round dataset of stratospheric aerosol backscatter ratios at high latitudes. The SSA layer is located at altitudes between the tropopause and about 30 km. It is of fundamental importance for the radiative balance of the atmosphere. We use a state-of-the-art Rayleigh-Mie-Raman lidar at the Arctic Lidar Observatory for Middle Atmosphere Research (ALOMAR) station located in northern Norway (69 • N, 16 • E; 380 m a.s.l.). For nighttime measurements the aerosol backscatter ratios are derived using elastic and inelastic backscatter of the emitted laser wavelengths 355, 532 and 1064 nm. The setup of the lidar allows measurements with a resolution of about 5 min in time and 150 m in altitude to be performed in high quality, which enables the identification of multiple sub-layers in the stratospheric aerosol layer of less than 1 km vertical thickness.We introduce a method to extend the dataset throughout the summer when measurements need to be performed under permanent daytime conditions. For that purpose we approximate the backscatter ratios from color ratios of elastic scattering and apply a correction function. We calculate the correction function using the average backscatter ratio profile at 355 nm from about 1700 h of nighttime measurements from the years 2000 to 2018. Using the new method we finally present a year-round dataset based on about 4100 h of measurements during the years 2014 to 2017.

Abstract. In this work, a novel approach for the determination of the particle size distribution (PSD) parameters of stratospheric sulfate aerosols is presented. For this, ratios of extinction coefficients obtained from SAGE III/ISS (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III on the International Space Station) solar occultation measurements at 449, 756 and 1544 nm were used to retrieve the mode width and median radius of a size distribution assumed to be monomodal lognormal. The estimated errors at the peak of the stratospheric aerosol layer, on average, lie between 20 % and 25 % for the median radius and 5 % and 7 % for the mode width. The results are consistent in magnitude with other retrieval results from the literature, but a robust comparison is difficult, mainly because of differences in temporal and spatial coverage. Other quantities like number density and effective radius were also calculated. A major advantage of the described method over other retrieval techniques is that both the median radius and the mode width can be retrieved simultaneously, without having to assume one of them. This is possible due to the broad wavelength spectrum covered by the SAGE III/ISS measurements. Also, the presented method – being based on the analysis of three wavelengths – allows unique solutions for the retrieval of PSD parameters for almost all of the observed extinction spectra, which is not the case when using only two spectral channels. In addition, the extinction coefficients from SAGE III/ISS solar occultation measurements, on which the retrieval is based, are calculated without a priori assumptions about the PSD. For those reasons, the data produced with the presented retrieval technique may be a valuable contribution for a better understanding of the variability of stratospheric aerosol size distributions, e.g. after volcanic eruptions. While this study focuses on describing the retrieval method, and a future study will discuss the PSD parameter data set produced in depth, some exemplary results for background conditions in June 2017 are shown.

The Boltzmann plot method allows to calculate plasma temperatures and pressures if absolutely calibrated emission coefficients of spectral lines are available. However, xenon arcs are not very well suited to be analyzed this way, as there are only a limited number of lines with atomic data available. These lines have high excitation energies in a small interval between 9.8 and 11.5 eV. Uncertainties in the experimental method and in the atomic data further limit the accuracy of the evaluation procedure. This may result in implausible values of temperature and pressure with inadmissible uncertainty. To omit these shortcomings, an iterative scheme is proposed that is making use of additional information about the xenon fill pressure. This method is proved to be robust against noisy data and significantly reduces the uncertainties. Intentionally distorted synthetic data are used to illustrate the performance of the method, and measurements performed on a laboratory xenon high pressure discharge lamp are analyzed resulting in reasonable temperatures and pressures with significantly reduced uncertainties.

Detailed Langmuir probe measurements of the plasma density, plasma potential, and electron temperature in the cylindrical helicon device VINETA [C. M. Franck et al., Phys. Plasmas 9(8), 2002] are presented. The probe measurements cover the entire radial-axial plane including the helicon antenna region. Two magnetic field configurations are compared: homogeneous magnetic field in the helicon antenna region and magnetic field gradient at the transition between the antenna and the discharge chamber. It is demonstrated that the converging magnetic field leads to the formation of steep plasma density and potential increase, which is strongly correlated with the position of the maximum field gradient. No electron heating detached from the helicon source is observed. The measurements strongly suggest that the plasma profiles are the direct result of volume reduction due to magnetic field convergence, which leads to the formation of a single sheath-like layer in front of the helicon source.

Abstract. In this work a novel approach to determine the particle size distribution (PSD) parameters of stratospheric sulfate aerosols is presented. For this, ratios of extinction coefficients obtained from SAGE III/ISS solar occultation measurements at 449 nm, 756 nm and 1544 nm were used to retrieve the mode width and median radius of a size distribution assumed to be monomodal lognormal. The estimated errors at the peak of the stratospheric aerosol layer on average lie between 20 % and 25 % for the median radius and 5 % and 7 % for the mode width. The results are consistent in magnitude with other retrieval results from the literature, but a robust comparison is difficult, mainly because of differences in temporal and spatial coverage. Other quantities like number density and effective radius were also calculated. A major advantage of the described method over other retrieval techniques is that both the median radius and the mode width can be retrieved simultaneously, without having to assume one of them, due to the broad wavelength spectrum covered by the SAGE III/ISS measurements. Also the extinction coefficients from SAGE III/ISS solar occultation measurements, on which the retrieval is based, are calculated without a priori assumptions about the PSD. For those reasons, the data produced with the presented retrieval technique may be a valuable contribution to better understand the variability of stratospheric aerosol size distributions, e.g. after volcanic eruptions. While this study focuses on describing the retrieval method and a future study will discuss the PSD parameter data set produced in depth, some exemplary results for background conditions in June 2017 are shown.