Particle size distributions in Arctic polar stratospheric clouds, growth and freezing of sulfuric acid droplets, and implications for cloud formation

Dye, J. E.; Baumgardner, Darrel; Gandrud, B. W.; Kawa, S. R.; Kelly, K. K.; Loewenstein, M.; Ferry, G. V.; Chan, K. R.; Gary, B. L.

doi:10.1029/91jd02740

Cited by 259 publications

(183 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…In the stratosphere the radial growth rate of small particles is nearly independent of the radius. In this limit it follows from equation (3) that the width of a distribution of growing particles can be found from rm (J old + Ar IJ ne w = (5) r m + Ar Here r,,, is the original mode radius (about 0.09 gm according to Dye et al [1992]), and 6ot,t is the original width of the distribution (about 1.8 according to Dye et al [1992]). If the change in radius, Ar, with growth is about 0.3 gm (Table 3), then the new width of the distribution would be about 1.2.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of lidar observations of Arctic polar stratospheric clouds during January 1989

Toon¹,

Tabazadeh²,

Browell³

et al. 2000

J. Geophys. Res.

123

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Abstract. We present analyses of lidar backscatter and depolarization ratios for polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) observed during the 1989 Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Experiment. The backscatter and depolarization ratios are available at one visible and one infrared wavelength. Water ice PSCs were identified at low ambient temperatures based upon their relatively large backscattering and depolarization ratios. The remaining clouds fall into four major categories. First, we observe a class of clouds that are not depolarizing at either of the two wavelengths. These clouds are identified as Type 1 b PSCs, which are assumed to be composed of ternary solutions of H2SO4/HNO•/H20. Type 1 b clouds were never dominant, though on some dates they accounted for 25 to 40 % of the observations. We find from the wavelength dependence of the backscattering by these clouds that their size distributions must be very narrow. Other optical observations of these clouds should consider the possible impact of these narrow size distributions on their data analysis. These clouds have a relatively large total particulate mass that is comparable to the known gas phase reservoir of nitric acid. The number density of Type lb particles is similar to the concentrations of the ambient sulfate aerosols. The second category of clouds is highly depolarizing at both lidar wavelengths, but has relatively low backscattering ratios. We identify these clouds as Type 1 a PSCs (assumed to be nitric acid tri-or dihydrate) which form only on a small subset by number, approximately 1% or less, of the ambient sulfate aerosols. These clouds were the first to be observed, and were especially co•n•non on the first few flights. They accounted for more than 70% of the observations on three flights. Type l a particles are near 1 •m or larger in radius. The third type of cloud is depolarizing at visible wavelengths, but not at near infrared wavelengths. These clouds were seen during portions of nearly every flight and comprised 10 to 25% of all of the observations. These clouds, which we refer to as Type 1 c, are composed of small, solid particles. These clouds contain a relatively large mass of material, comparable to the gas phase reservoir of nitric acid. Type 1 c particles are a few tenths of a micrometer in radius and have a concentration that is similar to that of the ambient sulfate aerosols. The final class of clouds has no depolarization at the lidar's visible wavelength but has significant depolarization at the infrared wavelength. Such particles were seen on many of the flights and sometimes accounted for as much as 30% of all the observations. We interpret these clouds as being mixtures of Type 1 a and 1 b PSCs. Although some polar stratospheric clouds have fairly homogeneous properties over very large spatial scales, many have variable properties at relatively small scales. Thus the various types of particles are often observed within a single cloud. Homogeneous clouds composed only of solid particles seem inconsistent with a wave cloud origin. How...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of lidar observations of Arctic polar stratospheric clouds during January 1989

Toon¹,

Tabazadeh²,

Browell³

et al. 2000

J. Geophys. Res.

123

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In fact, under the common (and simplifying) assumption of PSC formation via heterogeneous nucleation, typical stratospheric cooling rates [Murphy and Gary, 1995] would lead to the activation and growth of all the ambient aerosols [WoJSy et al, 1990]. Conversely, observations often reveal the presence of mixed phase PSC, where only a small fraction of ambient particles selectively nucleated into crystals, the others remaining supercooled droplets [Goodman et al, 1989;Dye et al, 1992Dye et al, , 1996Hofmann et al, 1989]. In this respect it ought to be remembered that observed substantial denitfification without large dehydration [e.g., Rindand et al, 1996] takes place only if ambient HNO 3 condenses into a small fraction of ambient aerosols, which can then grow large enough for fast settling [Salawitch et al, 1989].…”

Section: Paper Number 98jd00280mentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical properties of stratospheric clouds during the Antarctic winter of 1995

Gobbi¹,

Donfrancesco²,

Adriani³

1998

J. Geophys. Res.

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“…It is possible to choose either a "thermodynamical NAT parameterisation", assuming instantaneous thermodynamical equilibrium (Hanson and Mauersberger, 1988), or the new "kinetic growth NAT parameterisation", based on the efficient growth and sedimentation algorithm of Carslaw et al (2002) and van den Broek et al (2004) implemented into the submodel by Kirner et al (2011). In both cases, NAT formation takes place below the NAT existence temperature (T NAT , depending on the pressure and on the partial pressures of HNO 3 and H 2 O) with the assumption of a necessary super cooling of 3 K (Schlager and Arnold, 1990;Dye et al, 1992).…”

Section: The Submodel Pscmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of liquid, NAT and ice particles to chlorine activation and ozone depletion in Antarctic winter and spring

Kirner

Müller²,

Ruhnke

et al. 2015

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Heterogeneous reactions in the Antarctic stratosphere are the cause of chlorine activation and ozone depletion, but the relative roles of different types of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) in chlorine activation is an open question. We use multi-year simulations of the chemistryclimate model ECHAM5/MESSy for Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) to investigate the impact that the various types of PSCs have on Antarctic chlorine activation and ozone loss.One standard and three sensitivity EMAC simulations have been performed. In all simulations a Newtonian relaxation technique using the ERA-Interim reanalysis was applied to simulate realistic synoptic conditions. In the three sensitivity simulations, we only changed the heterogeneous chemistry on PSC particles by switching the chemistry on liquid, nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) and ice particles on and off. The results of these simulations show that the significance of heterogeneous reactions on NAT and ice particles for chlorine activation and ozone depletion in Antarctic winter and spring is small in comparison to the significance of heterogeneous reactions on liquid particles. Liquid particles alone are sufficient to activate almost all of the available chlorine, with the exception of the upper PSC regions between 10 and 30 hPa, where temporarily ice particles show a relevant contribution. Shortly after the first PSC occurrence, NAT particles contribute a small fraction to chlorine activation.Heterogeneous chemistry on liquid particles is responsible for more than 90 % of the ozone depletion in Antarctic spring in the model simulations. In high southern latitudes, heterogeneous chemistry on ice particles causes only up to 5 DU of additional ozone depletion in the column and heterogeneous chemistry on NAT particles less than 0.5 DU.The simulated HNO 3 , ClO and O 3 results agree closely with observations from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) onboard NASA's Aura satellite.

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Particle size distributions in Arctic polar stratospheric clouds, growth and freezing of sulfuric acid droplets, and implications for cloud formation

Cited by 259 publications

References 56 publications

Analysis of lidar observations of Arctic polar stratospheric clouds during January 1989

Analysis of lidar observations of Arctic polar stratospheric clouds during January 1989

Physical properties of stratospheric clouds during the Antarctic winter of 1995

Contribution of liquid, NAT and ice particles to chlorine activation and ozone depletion in Antarctic winter and spring

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