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Airborne observations of the composition of the 1992 tropical stratosphere by FTIR solar absorption spectrometry
Author(s) -
Toon G. C.,
Blavier J.F.,
Solario J. N.,
Szeto J. T.
Publication year - 1993
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 - 10.1029/93gl01962
Subject(s) - stratosphere , equator , latitude , atmospheric sciences , tropics , altitude (triangle) , mixing ratio , geology , environmental science , geodesy , geometry , mathematics , fishery , biology
Vertical column measurements of the gaseous composition of the tropical stratosphere were made from the NASA DC‐8 aircraft early in 1992. As anticipated, the burdens of the stratospheric source gases (e.g. O 3 , HF, HCl, ClNO 3 , HNO 3 ) were reduced from their mid‐latitude values due to increased uplift and photolysis. The tracers revealed considerably more uplift near the equator than the sub‐tropics. For example, the HF burdens at ±20° latitude (0.50×10 15 molec.cm −2 ) were nearly double those at 5°N (0.27×10 15 molec.cm −2 ). This, together with results obtained from other long‐lived gases (e.g. N 2 O, CH 4 , CF 2 Cl 2 ) indicates that volume mixing ratios found at 22 km altitude at mid‐latitudes occurred at 26 km in the sub‐tropics and at 30 km in the equatorial zone. This zone of uplift was symmetrical about the equator even though the sun was overhead at 20°S.