Temperature histories in liquid and solid polar stratospheric cloud formation

Larsen, N.; Knudsen, B. M.; Rosen, James M.; Kjome, Norman T.; Neuber, Roland; Kyrö, E.

doi:10.1029/97jd01666

Cited by 66 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…The scenario would also mean that synoptic scale solid PSCs in general would be observed in air parcels which have spent a longer time at temperatures below T NAT than air parcels where liquid type PSC are observed; conditions which are in agreement with observations (e.g. Tabazadeh et al, 1996;Larsen et al, 1997, Toon et al, 2000.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Formation of solid particles in synoptic-scale Arctic PSCs in early winter 2002/2003

et al. 2004

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Abstract. Polar stratospheric clouds (PSC) have been observed in early winter (December 2002) during the SOLVE II/Vintersol campaign, both from balloons carrying comprehensive instrumentation for measurements of chemical composition, size distributions, and optical properties of the particles, as well as from individual backscatter soundings from Esrange and Sodankylä. The observations are unique in the sense that the PSC particles seem to have formed in the early winter under synoptic temperature conditions and not being influenced by mountain lee waves. A sequence of measurements during a 5-days period shows a gradual change between liquid and solid type PSCs with the development of a well-known sandwich structure. It appears that all PSC observations show the presence of a background population of solid particles, occasionally mixed in with more optically dominating liquid particles. The measurements have been compared with results from a detailed microphysical and optical simulation of the formation processes. Calculated extinctions are in good agreement with SAGE-III measurements from the same period. Apparently the solid particles are controlled by the synoptic temperature history while the presence of liquid particles is controlled by the local temperatures at the time of observation. The temperature histories indicate that the solid particles are nucleated above the ice frost point, and a surface freezing mechanism for this is included in the model. Reducing the calculated freezing ratesCorrespondence to: N. Larsen (nl@dmi.dk) by a factor 10-20, the model is able to simulate the observed particle size distributions and reproduce observed HNO 3 gas phase concentrations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Formation of solid particles in synoptic-scale Arctic PSCs in early winter 2002/2003

et al. 2004

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“…06. Such a case was previously reported in PSC observations by backscatter sondes in the Arctic by Larsen et al (1997). This result also indicates the possibility of ice-free formation of NAT.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Polar stratospheric cloud evolution and chlorine activation measured by CALIPSO and MLS, and modeled by ATLAS

et al. 2016

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Abstract. We examined observations of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) by CALIPSO, and of HCl and ClO by MLS along air mass trajectories, to investigate the dependence of the inferred PSC composition on the temperature history of the air parcels and the dependence of the level of chlorine activation on PSC composition. Several case studies based on individual trajectories from the Arctic winter 2009/2010 were conducted, with the trajectories chosen such that the first processing of the air mass by PSCs in this winter occurred on the trajectory. Transitions of PSC composition classes were observed to be highly dependent on the temperature history. In cases of a gradual temperature decrease, nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) and super-cooled ternary solution (STS) mixture clouds were observed. In cases of rapid temperature decrease, STS clouds were first observed, followed by NAT/STS mixture clouds. When temperatures dropped below the frost point, ice clouds formed and then transformed into NAT/STS mixture clouds when temperature increased above the frost point. The threshold temperature for rapid chlorine activation on PSCs is approximately 4 K below the NAT existence temperature, T NAT . Furthermore, simulations of the ATLAS chemistry and transport box model along the trajectories were used to corroborate the measurements and show good agreement with the observations. Rapid chlorine activation was observed when an air mass encountered PSCs. Usually, chlorine activation was limited by the amount of available ClONO 2 . Where ClONO 2 was not the limiting factor, a large dependence on temperature was evident.

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“…This makes NAT PSCs unsuitable for use as a local temperature reference, since their growth by HNO 3 uptake is dependent on the temperature history (Larsen et al, 1997). On the other hand, liquid STS reacts more quickly to ambient temperature changes, effectively acting as a thermometer (Hoyle et al, 2013), provided that very rapid temperature changes are excluded (Voigt et al, 2005).…”

Section: Thermodynamics Of Psc Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accuracy and precision of polar lower stratospheric temperatures from reanalyses evaluated from A-Train CALIOP and MLS, COSMIC GPS RO, and the equilibrium thermodynamics of supercooled ternary solutions and ice clouds

Lambert

Santee

2018

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. We investigate the accuracy and precision of polar lower stratospheric temperatures (100-10 hPa during [2008][2009][2010][2011][2012][2013] reported in several contemporary reanalysis datasets comprising two versions of the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA and MERRA-2), the Japanese 55-year Reanalysis (JRA-55), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) interim reanalysis (ERA-I), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (NCEP-CFSR). We also include the Goddard Earth Observing System model version 5.9.1 near-real-time analysis (GEOS-5.9.1). Comparisons of these datasets are made with respect to retrieved temperatures from the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) temperatures, and independent absolute temperature references defined by the equilibrium thermodynamics of supercooled ternary solutions (STSs) and ice clouds. Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) observations of polar stratospheric clouds are used to determine the cloud particle types within the Aura MLS geometric field of view. The thermodynamic calculations for STS and the ice frost point use the colocated MLS gas-phase measurements of HNO 3 and H 2 O. The estimated bias and precision for the STS temperature reference, over the 68 to 21 hPa pressure range, are 0.6-1.5 and 0.3-0.6 K, respectively; for the ice temperature reference, they are 0.4 and 0.3 K, respectively. These uncertainties are smaller than those estimated for the retrieved MLS temperatures and also comparable to GPS RO uncertainties (bias < 0.2 K, precision > 0.7 K) in the same pressure range.We examine a case study of the time-varying temperature structure associated with layered ice clouds formed by orographic gravity waves forced by flow over the Palmer Peninsula and compare how the wave amplitudes are reproduced by each reanalysis dataset. We find that the spatial and temporal distribution of temperatures below the ice frost point, and hence the potential to form ice polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) in model studies driven by the reanalyses, varies significantly because of the underlying differences in the representation of mountain wave activity.High-accuracy COSMIC temperatures are used as a common reference to intercompare the reanalysis temperatures. Over the 68-21 hPa pressure range, the biases of the reanalyses with respect to COSMIC temperatures for both polar regions fall within the narrow range of −0.6 K to +0.5 K. GEOS-5.9.1, MERRA, MERRA-2, and JRA-55 have predominantly cold biases, whereas ERA-I has a predominantly warm bias. NCEP-CFSR has a warm bias in the Arctic but becomes substantially colder in the Antarctic.Reanalysis temperatures are also compared with the PSC reference temperatures. Over the 68-21 hPa pressure range, the reanalysis tem...

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Temperature histories in liquid and solid polar stratospheric cloud formation

Cited by 66 publications

References 59 publications

Formation of solid particles in synoptic-scale Arctic PSCs in early winter 2002/2003

Formation of solid particles in synoptic-scale Arctic PSCs in early winter 2002/2003

Polar stratospheric cloud evolution and chlorine activation measured by CALIPSO and MLS, and modeled by ATLAS

Accuracy and precision of polar lower stratospheric temperatures from reanalyses evaluated from A-Train CALIOP and MLS, COSMIC GPS RO, and the equilibrium thermodynamics of supercooled ternary solutions and ice clouds

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