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Vertical distribution of nighttime stratospheric NO 2 from balloon measurements: Comparison with models
Author(s) -
Renard JeanBaptiste,
Pirre Michel,
Robert Claude,
Lefevre Franck,
Lateltin Eric,
Nozière Barbara,
Huguenin Daniel
Publication year - 1997
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 - 10.1029/96gl03771
Subject(s) - mixing ratio , atmospheric sciences , altitude (triangle) , aerosol , environmental science , extinction (optical mineralogy) , lidar , mixing (physics) , stratosphere , latitude , troposphere , meteorology , geology , physics , geodesy , mineralogy , geometry , remote sensing , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Vertical distributions of NO 2 and O 3 mixing ratios and the aerosol extinction coefficient were measured by night between 18 and 32 km altitude (9–80 hPa) at mid latitudes using the balloon‐borne instrument AMON on March 24, 1994. The NO 2 profile is compared with results of simulations involving the REPROBUS 3D Chemical‐Transport Model and a Lagrangian model in which the ozone mixing ratio and the aerosol surface area are initialized using AMON measurements (other mixing ratios are initialized with REPROBUS). As confirmed by Lidar observations, the surface areas were larger than the monthly and zonally averaged SAGE 2 data available for March 1994 at 45°N. The Lagrangian model shows relatively good agreement with AMON results for pressure higher than 40 hPa and smaller than 15 hPa, but the computed NO 2 value is too high between 15 and 40 hPa. This seems to indicate that heterogeneous reactions involving the NO Y species in the aerosol layer are still incompletely understood.