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Formation and composition of the UTLS aerosol

Martinsson, Bengt G. LU ; Friberg, Johan LU ; Sandvik, Oscar S. LU orcid ; Hermann, Markus ; van Velthoven, Peter F.J. and Zahn, Andreas (2019) In npj Climate and Atmospheric Science 2(1).
Abstract

Stratospheric aerosol has long been seen as a pure mixture of sulfuric acid and water. Recent measurements, however, found a considerable carbonaceous fraction extending at least 8 km into the stratosphere. This fraction affects the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the radiative properties, and hence the radiative forcing and climate impact of the stratospheric aerosol. Here we present an investigation based on a decade (2005–2014) of airborne aerosol sampling at 9–12 km altitude in the tropics and the northern hemisphere (NH) aboard the IAGOS-CARIBIC passenger aircraft. We find that the chemical composition of tropospheric aerosol in the tropics differs markedly from that at NH midlatitudes, and, that the carbonaceous stratospheric... (More)

Stratospheric aerosol has long been seen as a pure mixture of sulfuric acid and water. Recent measurements, however, found a considerable carbonaceous fraction extending at least 8 km into the stratosphere. This fraction affects the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the radiative properties, and hence the radiative forcing and climate impact of the stratospheric aerosol. Here we present an investigation based on a decade (2005–2014) of airborne aerosol sampling at 9–12 km altitude in the tropics and the northern hemisphere (NH) aboard the IAGOS-CARIBIC passenger aircraft. We find that the chemical composition of tropospheric aerosol in the tropics differs markedly from that at NH midlatitudes, and, that the carbonaceous stratospheric aerosol is oxygen-poor compared to the tropospheric aerosol. Furthermore, the carbonaceous and sulfurous components of the aerosol in the lowermost stratosphere (LMS) show strong increases in concentration connected with springtime subsidence from overlying stratospheric layers. The LMS concentrations significantly exceed those in the troposphere, thus clearly indicating a stratospheric production of not only the well-established sulfurous aerosol, but also a considerable but less understood carbonaceous component.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
volume
2
issue
1
article number
40
publisher
Springer Nature
external identifiers
  • scopus:85085003733
ISSN
2397-3722
DOI
10.1038/s41612-019-0097-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2f7c8176-c676-4109-bb32-8f7dc334e99f
date added to LUP
2020-06-23 13:27:05
date last changed
2022-04-18 23:09:57
@article{2f7c8176-c676-4109-bb32-8f7dc334e99f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Stratospheric aerosol has long been seen as a pure mixture of sulfuric acid and water. Recent measurements, however, found a considerable carbonaceous fraction extending at least 8 km into the stratosphere. This fraction affects the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the radiative properties, and hence the radiative forcing and climate impact of the stratospheric aerosol. Here we present an investigation based on a decade (2005–2014) of airborne aerosol sampling at 9–12 km altitude in the tropics and the northern hemisphere (NH) aboard the IAGOS-CARIBIC passenger aircraft. We find that the chemical composition of tropospheric aerosol in the tropics differs markedly from that at NH midlatitudes, and, that the carbonaceous stratospheric aerosol is oxygen-poor compared to the tropospheric aerosol. Furthermore, the carbonaceous and sulfurous components of the aerosol in the lowermost stratosphere (LMS) show strong increases in concentration connected with springtime subsidence from overlying stratospheric layers. The LMS concentrations significantly exceed those in the troposphere, thus clearly indicating a stratospheric production of not only the well-established sulfurous aerosol, but also a considerable but less understood carbonaceous component.</p>}},
  author       = {{Martinsson, Bengt G. and Friberg, Johan and Sandvik, Oscar S. and Hermann, Markus and van Velthoven, Peter F.J. and Zahn, Andreas}},
  issn         = {{2397-3722}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Nature}},
  series       = {{npj Climate and Atmospheric Science}},
  title        = {{Formation and composition of the UTLS aerosol}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41612-019-0097-1}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41612-019-0097-1}},
  volume       = {{2}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}