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Northern hemisphere atmospheric effects due to the July 2000 Solar Proton Event
Author(s) -
Jackman Charles H.,
McPeters Richard D.,
Labow Gordon J.,
Fleming Eric L.,
Praderas Cid J.,
Russell James M.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2001gl013221
Subject(s) - atmospheric sciences , stratosphere , atmosphere (unit) , ozone , northern hemisphere , middle latitudes , mesosphere , environmental science , polar , ozone depletion , southern hemisphere , precipitation , latitude , polar vortex , event (particle physics) , climatology , meteorology , geology , physics , astrophysics , astronomy
The third largest solar proton event in the past thirty years took place during July 14–16, 2000, and had a significant impact on the earth's atmosphere. These energetic protons produced both HO x (H, OH, HO 2 ) and NO x (N, NO, NO 2 ) constituents in the mesosphere and upper stratosphere at polar latitudes (> 60° geomagnetic) of both hemispheres. The temporal evolution of increases in NO and NO 2 during the event at northern polar latitudes were measured by the UARS HALOE instrument. Increases in mesospheric NO x of over 50 ppbv were found in the HALOE measurements. Measurements from the UARS HALOE and NOAA 14 SBUV/2 instruments indicate short‐term (∼day) middle mesospheric ozone decreases of over 70% caused by short‐lived HO x during the event with a longer‐term (several days) upper stratospheric ozone depletion of up to 9% caused by longer‐lived NO x . We believe this is the first time that the three constituents NO, NO 2 , and ozone were all measured simultaneously during a proton event. The observations constitute a dramatic confirmation of the impact of a large particle event in the control of ozone in the polar middle atmosphere and offer the opportunity to test theories of constituent changes driven by particle precipitation.