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

Journal Article · Wed Feb 28 23:00:00 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), Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States) Vol. 17:4; ISSN 0094-8276; ISSN GPRLA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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