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In situ measurements of NO x in the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition
Author(s) -
Carroll Mary Anne,
Montzka Denise D.,
Hübler Gerhard,
Kelly Kenneth K.,
Gregory Gerald L.
Publication year - 1990
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/gl017i004p00493
Subject(s) - stratosphere , troposphere , atmospheric sciences , ozone , arctic , nitrogen dioxide , environmental science , mixing ratio , reactive nitrogen , water vapor , atmosphere of earth , the arctic , nitrogen , climatology , atmosphere (unit) , meteorology , physics , geology , oceanography , quantum mechanics
In situ measurements of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) were made simultaneously from the NASA DC‐8 aircraft as part of the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition. Mixing ratios of NO x (NO + NO 2 ) were typically higher in the Arctic troposphere than in the stratosphere, with median values of 59 and 40 pptv, respectively. In the stratosphere, there tended to be a positive correlation between NO x and water vapor (H 2 O) and negative correlations between NO x and ozone (O 3 ) and between NO x and total reactive odd‐nitrogen (NO y ). The ratio of NO x to NO y , in conjunction with NO y , appears to be an excellent tracer of tropospheric or stratospheric air at northern latitudes during winter. Tropospheric NO x was typically 10 to 50% of gas‐phase NO y , while in the stratosphere, NO x was typically < 10%, and frequently <5% of gas‐phase NO y .