skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: On the accuracy of stratospheric aerosol extinction derived from in situ size distribution measurements and surface area density derived from remote SAGE II and HALOE extinction measurements

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023303· OSTI ID:1333657
 [1];  [2]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)
  2. Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

In situ stratospheric aerosol measurements, from University of Wyoming optical particle counters (OPCs), are compared with Stratospheric Aerosol Gas Experiment (SAGE) II (versions 6.2 and 7.0) and Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) satellite measurements to investigate differences between SAGE II/HALOE-measured extinction and derived surface area and OPC-derived extinction and surface area. Coincident OPC and SAGE II measurements are compared for a volcanic (1991-1996) and nonvolcanic (1997-2005) period. OPC calculated extinctions agree with SAGE II measurements, within instrumental uncertainty, during the volcanic period, but have been a factor of 2 low during the nonvolcanic period. Three systematic errors associated with the OPC measurements, anisokineticity, inlet particle evaporation, and counting efficiency, were investigated. An overestimation of the OPC counting efficiency is found to be the major source of systematic error. With this correction OPC calculated extinction increases by 15-30% (30-50%) for the volcanic (nonvolcanic) measurements. These changes significantly improve the comparison with SAGE II and HALOE extinctions in the nonvolcanic cases but slightly degrade the agreement in the volcanic period. These corrections have impacts on OPC-derived surface area density, exacerbating the poor agreement between OPC and SAGE II (version 6.2) surface areas. Furthermore, this disparity is reconciled with SAGE II version 7.0 surface areas. For both the volcanic and nonvolcanic cases these changes in OPC counting efficiency and in the operational SAGE II surface area algorithm leave the derived surface areas from both platforms in significantly better agreement and within the ± 40% precision of the OPC moment calculations.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1333657
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1265618
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 120, Issue 16; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 25 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (53)

SAGE II inversion algorithm journal June 1989
Determining the index of refraction of polar stratospheric clouds above Andoya (69°N) by combining size-resolved concentration and optical scattering measurements journal February 2000
The role of aerosol variations in anthropogenic ozone depletion at northern midlatitudes journal March 1996
Polar stratospheric clouds and volcanic aerosol during spring 1992 over McMurdo Station, Antarctica: Lidar and particle counter comparisons journal January 1995
Large nitric acid particles at the top of an Arctic stratospheric cloud journal January 2003
Condensation nuclei measurements in the midlatitude (1982-2012) and Antarctic (1986-2010) stratosphere between 20 and 35 km: CONDENSATION NUCLEI IN THE STRATOSPHERE journal January 2014
SAGE II measurements of stratospheric aerosol properties at non-volcanic levels journal January 2008
Balloonborne Measurements of Condensation Nuclei journal January 1977
Radiative Climate Forcing by the Mount Pinatubo Eruption journal March 1993
Role of heterogeneous conversion of N2O5 on sulphate aerosols in global ozone losses journal July 1991
The effect of stratospheric water vapor on the heterogeneous reaction rate of ClONO 2 and H 2 O for sulfuric acid aerosol journal November 1992
Temperature- and composition-dependent infrared optical constants for sulfuric acid journal December 1998
Densities and refractive indices of H 2 SO 4 /HNO 3 /H 2 O solutions to stratospheric temperatures journal December 1996
Evaluation of aerosol measurements from SAGE II, HALOE, and balloonborne optical particle counters journal January 2002
The effect of particle size and nitric acid uptake on the homogeneous freezing of aqueous sulfuric acid particles journal April 2000
The Boiling Point of Stratospheric Aerosols journal October 1971
Vapor-liquid equilibria for aqueous sulfuric acid journal September 1964
Optical Constants of Sulfuric Acid; Application to the Clouds of Venus? journal January 1975
In situ measurements constraining the role of sulphate aerosols in mid-latitude ozone depletion journal June 1993
Steady-state aerosol distributions in the extra-tropical, lower stratosphere and the processes that maintain them journal January 2008
Midlatitude lidar backscatter to mass, area, and extinction conversion model based on in situ aerosol measurements from 1980 to 1987 journal January 1991
A global climatology of stratospheric aerosol surface area density deduced from Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II measurements: 1984-1994 journal April 1997
Physical and optical properties of the Pinatubo volcanic aerosol: Aircraft observations with impactors and a Sun-tracking photometer journal January 1994
Tropical high cloud characteristics derived from SAGE II extinction measurements journal June 1994
Sulfuric Acid Droplet Formation and Growth in the Stratosphere After the 1982 Eruption of El Chichon journal October 1983
Comparison of aerosol extinction coefficients, surface area density, and volume density from SAGE II and in situ aircraft measurements journal January 2008
Trends in the nonvolcanic component of stratospheric aerosol over the period 1971–2004 journal January 2006
Balloonborne measurements of Pinatubo aerosol during 1991 and 1992 at 41°N: Vertical profiles, size distribution, and volatility journal July 1993
Thermodynamic Model of the System H + −NH 4 + −SO 4 2- −NO 3 - −H 2 O at Tropospheric Temperatures journal March 1998
Techniques for collection of representative aerosol samples journal August 1974
Long-term record of lidar observations of the stratospheric aerosol layer at Garmisch-Partenkirchen journal January 2005
Log-normal size distributions of ultrafine metal particles journal January 1976
Retrieval of aerosol size distributions from satellite extinction spectra using constrained linear inversion journal July 1997
SAGE version 7.0 algorithm: application to SAGE II journal January 2013
The vertical distribution of dust to 30 kilometers journal November 1964
Increase in the Stratospheric Background Sulfuric Acid Aerosol Mass in the Past 10 Years journal May 1990
Determination of index of refraction and size of supermicrometer particles from light scattering measurements at two angles journal January 2008
Retrieval of aerosol surface area and volume densities from extinction measurements: Application to POAM II and SAGE II journal April 1999
Thirty years of in situ stratospheric aerosol size distribution measurements from Laramie, Wyoming (41°N), using balloon-borne instruments journal January 2003
Total volcanic stratospheric aerosol optical depths and implications for global climate change: Uncertainty in volcanic climate forcing journal November 2014
Technical Note: Evaporation of polar stratospheric cloud particles, in situ, in a heated inlet journal January 2005
Aerosol size distributions obtained from HALOE spectral extinction measurements journal January 1998
Effects of temperature and humidity on the growth and optical properties of sulphuric acid—water droplets in the stratosphere journal January 1981
Stratospheric Aerosol Measurements I: Time Variations at Northern Midlatitudes journal July 1975
Global to microscale evolution of the Pinatubo volcanic aerosol derived from diverse measurements and analyses journal August 1996
Stratospheric cloud observations during formation of the Antarctic ozone hole in 1989 journal January 1991
Toward a combined SAGE II-HALOE aerosol climatology: an evaluation of HALOE version 19 stratospheric aerosol extinction coefficient observations journal January 2012
SAGE version 7.0 algorithm: application to SAGE II journal January 2013
SAGE II measurements of stratospheric aerosol properties at non-volcanic levels text January 2008
Toward a combined SAGE II-HALOE aerosol climatology: an evaluation of HALOE version 19 stratospheric aerosol extinction coefficient observations posted_content June 2012
Technical Note: Evaporation of polar stratospheric cloud particles, in situ, in a heated inlet posted_content September 2004
Steady-state aerosol distributions in the extra-tropical, lower stratosphere and the processes that maintain them posted_content February 2008
SAGE II measurements of stratospheric aerosol properties at non-volcanic levels posted_content May 2007

Cited By (15)

Stratospheric aerosol-Observations, processes, and impact on climate: Stratospheric Aerosol journal May 2016
Stratospheric Aerosols, Polar Stratospheric Clouds, and Polar Ozone Depletion After the Mount Calbuco Eruption in 2015 journal November 2018
Retrieval of Aerosol Size Distributions From In Situ Particle Counter Measurements: Instrument Counting Efficiency and Comparisons With Satellite Measurements journal May 2019
Impacts of Mt Pinatubo volcanic aerosol on the tropical stratosphere in chemistry–climate model simulations using CCMI and CMIP6 stratospheric aerosol data journal January 2017
The Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) Version 1 aerosol extinction retrieval algorithm: theoretical basis journal January 2018
Improvement of stratospheric aerosol extinction retrieval from OMPS/LP using a new aerosol model journal January 2018
Stratospheric aerosol characteristics from space-borne observations: extinction coefficient and Ångström exponent journal January 2019
The Interactive Stratospheric Aerosol Model Intercomparison Project (ISA-MIP): motivation and experimental design journal January 2018
Improved tropospheric and stratospheric sulfur cycle in the aerosol–chemistry–climate model SOCOL-AERv2 journal January 2019
Impacts of Mt Pinatubo volcanic aerosol on the tropical stratosphere in chemistry-climate model simulations using CCMI and CMIP6 stratospheric aerosol data text January 2017
The Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) Version 1 Aerosol Extinction Retrieval Algorithm: Theoretical Basis posted_content October 2017
Improvement of stratospheric aerosol extinction retrieval from OMPS/LP using a new aerosol model posted_content July 2018
Stratospheric aerosol characteristics from space-borne observations: extinction coefficient and Ångström exponent posted_content October 2018
The Interactive Stratospheric Aerosol Model Intercomparison Project (ISA-MIP): motivation and experimental design text January 2018
Improved tropospheric and stratospheric sulfur cycle in the aerosol-chemistry-climate model SOCOL-AERv2 text January 2019

Similar Records

Observations of a new sage II aerosol extinction mode following the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo
Journal Article · Tue Nov 03 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States) · OSTI ID:1333657
SAGE II long-term measurements of stratospheric and upper tropospheric aerosols
Conference · Sun Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 1995 · OSTI ID:1333657
+1 more
SAGE aerosol measurements. Volume 3: January 1, 1981 to November 18, 1981
Technical Report · Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1987 · OSTI ID:1333657

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES