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Subsidence of aircraft engine exhaust in the stratosphere: Implications for calculated ozone depletions
Author(s) -
Rodríguez J. M.,
Shia R. L.,
Ko M. K. W.,
Heisey C. W.,
Weistenstein D. K.,
MiakeLye R. C.,
Kolb C. E.
Publication year - 1994
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 - 10.1029/93gl03426
Subject(s) - atmospheric sciences , stratosphere , ozone , subsidence , environmental science , altitude (triangle) , ozone layer , mixing ratio , radiative cooling , wake , radiative forcing , radiative transfer , meteorology , aerosol , geology , mechanics , physics , structural basin , paleontology , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics
The deposition altitude of nitrogen oxides and other exhaust species emitted by stratospheric aircraft is a crucial parameter in determining the impact of these emissions on stratospheric ozone. We have utilized a model for the wake of a High‐Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) to estimate the enhancements in water and reductions in ozone in these wakes as a function of time. Radiative calculations indicate differential cooling rates as large as −5K/day at the beginning of the far‐wake regime, mostly due to the enhanced water abundance. These cooling rates would imply a net sinking of the wakes of about 1.2 km after three days in the limit of no mixing. Calculated mid‐latitude column ozone reductions due to emissions from a Mach 2.4 HSCT would then change from about −1% to −0.6%. However, more realistic calculations adopting moderate mixing for the wake reduce the net sinking to less than 0.2 km, making the impact of radiative subsidence negligible.