Open AccessTropospheric aerosol backscatter at a midlatitude site in the northern and southern hemispheres
Author(s) -
Rosen James M.,
Kjome Norman T.,
Liley J. B.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/97jd01486
Subject(s) - aerosol , troposphere , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , middle latitudes , backscatter (email) , volcano , climatology , storm , geology , meteorology , geography , telecommunications , seismology , computer science , wireless
Monthly balloon borne aerosol backscatter measurements at ∼173° and wavelengths of 940 and 490 nm have been made at Lauder, New Zealand (45°S), and Laramie, Wyoming (41°N), since 1992. The presentation and analysis here focus on the tropospheric results which suggest that a similar quasi steady state background aerosol appears over both sites with superimposed seasonal disturbances that are probably related to arid region dust storms and biomass burning. Volcanic influences on the free troposphere are found to be minimal. In contrast to the background aerosol, the aerosol disturbances show a strong hemispheric difference with fewer perturbations over Lauder as well as significantly differing vertical profile structure, as might be expected at a remote site. Our interpretation of the higher resolution backscatter measurements substantially supports the conclusions drawn from the lower resolution stratospheric aerosol and gas experiment (SAGE) and stratospheric aerosol measurement (SAM) satellite observations.