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Evidence for the removal of gaseous HNO 3 inside the arctic polar vortex in January 1992
Author(s) -
Höpfner M.,
Blom C. E.,
Blumenstock T.,
Fischer H.,
Gulde T.
Publication year - 1996
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 - 10.1029/95gl03779
Subject(s) - polar vortex , nitric acid , polar , stratosphere , saturation (graph theory) , arctic , analytical chemistry (journal) , the arctic , vortex , ternary operation , chemistry , atmospheric sciences , geology , meteorology , environmental chemistry , oceanography , physics , inorganic chemistry , astronomy , computer science , programming language , mathematics , combinatorics
Unexpectedly low column amounts of HNO 3 (1.3×10 16 cm −2 ) inside the Arctic polar vortex were obtained on January 9, 1992 by airborne FTIR emission measurements. After correction for dynamic variations it is concluded that about 40% of the column HNO 3 had been removed from the gas phase. The observed depletion is consistent with a nearly equilibrium saturation of HNO 3 over nitric acid trihydrate. It cannot be explained by the uptake of HNO 3 in ternary H 2 SO 4 /H 2 O/HNO 3 mixtures.