Airborne lidar observations in the wintertime Arctic stratosphere: Polar stratospheric clouds

Journal Article · Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/GL017i004p00385· OSTI ID:5470693

Browell, E V; Ismail, S; Carter, A F; Higdon, N S ^[1]; Butler, C F; Robinette, P A ^[2]; Toon, O B ^[3]; Schoeberl, M R ^[4]; Tuck, A F ^[5]

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1. NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA (USA)
2. ST Systems Corporation, Hampton, VA (USA)
3. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA (USA)
4. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (USA)
5. NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, Boulder, CO (USA)

Polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) distributions in the wintertime Arctic stratosphere and their optical characteristics were measured with a multi-wavelength airborne lidar system as part of the 1989 Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition. PSCs were observed on 10 flights between January 6 and February 2, 1989, into the polar vortex. The PSCs were found in the 14-27 km altitude range in regions where the temperatures were {le}195 K. Two types of aerosols with different optical characteristics (Types 1a and 1b) were observed in PSCs thought to be composed of nitric acid trihydrate. Type 1a PSCs typically exhibited low scattering ratios (1.2-1.5) and high aerosol depolarizations (30-50%) at 603 nm, while Type 1b PSCs had higher scattering ratios (3-8) and lower aerosol depolarizations (0.5-2.5%). Water ice PSCs (Type 2) were observed to have high scattering ratios (>10) and high aerosol depolarizations (>10%) at temperatures {le}190 K.

• OSTI ID: 5470693
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States), Vol. 17:4; ISSN 0094-8276
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CLOUDS
DISTRIBUTION
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
STRATOSPHERE
AEROSOLS
AIRCRAFT
ALTITUDE
ARCTIC REGIONS
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
CLASSIFICATION
DEPOLARIZATION
LOW TEMPERATURE
NITRIC ACID
OPTICAL RADAR
SCATTERING
CHEMISTRY
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POLAR REGIONS
RADAR
RANGE FINDERS
SOLS
540110*