Heterogeneous conversion of N{sub 2}O{sub 5} to HNO{sub 3} in the post-Mount Pinatubo eruption stratosphere
- NASA Langely Research Center, Hampton, VA (United States)
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States); and others
Simultaneous stratospheric volume mixing ratio (VMR) profiles of dinitrogen pentoxide (N{sub 2}O{sub 5}) and nitric acid HNO{sub 3} at sunrise between 25{degrees}N and 15{degrees}S latitude and profiles of HNO{sub 3} at sunset between 42{degrees}S and 53{degrees}S latitude have been derived from 0.01 cm{sup -1} resolution infrared solar occultation spectra recorded 9 {1/2} months after the massive eruption of the Mount Pinatubo volcano in the Philippine Islands. The measurements were obtained by the atmospheric trace molecule spectroscopy (ATMOS) Fourier transform spectrometer during the ATLAS 1 shuttle mission (March 20 to April 2, 1992). The measured HNO{sub 3} VMRs are higher at all altitudes and latitudes than corresponding values measured by the limb infrared monitor of the stratosphere (LIMS) instrument during the same season in 1979, when the aerosol loading was near background levels. The largest relative increase in the HNO{sub 3} VMR occurred near the equator at 30-km altitude, where the ATMOS/ATLAS 1 values are about a factor of 2 higher than the LIMS measurements. Two-dimensional model calculations show that the increase in HNO{sub 3} and the ATMOS/ATLAS 1 measurement of a steep decrease in the N{sub 2}O{sub 5} to HNO{sub 3} on the surfaces of the Mount Pinatubo sulfate aerosols. Our profile results demonstrate the global impact of the N{sub 2}O{sub 5} + H{sub 2}0 {r_arrow} 2HNO{sub 3} heterogeneous reaction in altering the partitioning of stratospheric odd nitrogen after a major volcanic eruption. 40 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 136239
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 99, Issue D4; Other Information: PBD: 20 Apr 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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