Combined optical and microwave remote sensing measurements of thestratosphere from a balloon platform: improving our understanding ofozone photochemistry

摘要

Combined infrared and microwave remote sensing measurements of thenstratosphere are combined to test several aspects of a constrainednphotochemical model. The authors find that a model with conventionalnchemistry only is unable to reproduce the observed abundance of ClO andnHOCl relative to HCl, while results from a model which includes 10%nproduction of HCl from the reaction of OH and ClO are in good agreementnwith the observations. The modified model predicts that the rates ofnproduction and loss of ozone are in balance at altitudes where thenphotochemical lifetimes are short compared to the characteristicntransport time (30-40 km), in agreement with the rates calculatedndirectly from the authors' measurements of HO₂, OH, NO_2n, O₃, and ClO. The modified model also shows that fornthe balloon flight analyzed halogen-catalyzed ozone loss plays a lessernrole than previously believed