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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Development of techniques for the In Situ observation of OH and HO2 for studies of the impact of high-altitude supersonic aircraft on the stratosphere. Final report, 1 August 1990-31 July 1993

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:200624
This three-year project supported the construction, calibration, and deployment of a new instrument to measure the OH and HO2 radicals on the NASA Er-2 aircraft. The instrument has met and exceeded all of its design goals. The instrumentation represents a true quantum leap in performance over that achieved in previous HO(x) instruments built in this group. Sensitivity of OH was enhanced by over two orders of magnitude as the weight fell from approximately 1500 to less than 200 Kg. Reliability has been very high: HO(x) data are available for all flights during the first operational mission, the Stratospheric Photochemistry, Aerosols, and Dynamics Expedition (SPADE). The results of that experiment have been reported in the scientific literature and at conferences. Additionally, measurements of H2O and O3 were made and have been reported in the scientific literature. The measurements demonstrate the important role that OH and HO2 play in determining the concentration of ozone in the lower stratosphere. During the SPADE campaign, the measurements demonstrate that the catalytic removal is dominated by processes involving the odd-hydrogen and halogen radicals - an extremely important constraint for photochemical models that are being used to assess the potential deleterious effects of supersonic aircraft effluent on the burden of stratospheric ozone.
Research Organization:
Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
OSTI ID:
200624
Report Number(s):
N--96-18725; NASA-CR--200205; NAS--1.26:200205; NIPS--96-08374; CNN: NCC2-693
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English