Optika Atmosfery i Okeana Journal

Vol. 39, issue 05, article # 7

Bazhenov O. E. Time behavior of nitric acid and its influence on polar stratospheric cloud formation and ozone destruction in the winter-spring stratosphere of the Arctic based on Aura MLS observations. // Optika Atmosfery i Okeana. 2026. V. 39. No. 05. P. 413–421. DOI: 10.15372/AOO20260507 [in Russian].
Copy the reference to clipboard

Abstract:

The onset of polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) formation and chlorine activation is so far considered to be the temperature threshold of formation of nitric acid trihydrate T_NAT, below which the HNO₃ concentration sharply increases in PSC particles. In this paper, we use the data on the minimal temperature, maximal negative deviations of ozone concentration from multiyear average, and maximal nitric acid (HNO₃) concentration in the Arctic stratosphere at four sites: Eureka, Canada (EUR); Ny-Ålesund, Norway (NAD); Thule, Greenland (THU); and Resolute, Canada (RES) for calculations of the maximal HNO₃ concentrations and the total HNO₃ columns. The maximal HNO₃ concentrations decrease throughout the winter until late February at all observation sites considered here due to condensation of gas-phase HNO₃ on PSC particles. The concentrations start to grow after return of sunlight to polar latitudes due to PSC sublimation and HNO₃ export from peripheral areas of the vortex during its deformation. The HNO₃ content in the winter-spring stratosphere of the Arctic is an important indicator of the PSC formation and breakup.

Keywords:

ozone, sudden stratospheric warming, polar night, nitric acid, temperature, Aura MLS observations, mixing ratio profile, polar stratospheric cloud evaporation

Figures:

References:

1. Farahani E., Fast H., Mittermeier R.L., Makino Y., Strong K., McLandress C., Shepherd T.G., Chipperfield M.P., Hannigan J.W., Coffey M.T., Mikuteit S., Hase F., Blumenstock T., Raffalski U.E. Nitric acid measurements at Eureka obtained in winter 2001–2002 using solar and lunar Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy: Comparisons with observations at Thule and Kiruna and with results from three-dimensional models // J. Geophys. Res. 2007. V. 112. P. D01305. DOI: 10.1029/2006JD007096.
2. Peter T. Microphysics and heterogeneous chemistry of polar stratospheric clouds // Ann. Rev. Phys. Chem. 1997. V. 48, N 1. P. 785–822. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.physchem.48.1.785.
3. Lindenmaier R., Strong K., Jonsson A.I., Kolonjari F., Walker K.A., Batchelor R.L., Bernath P.F., Chabrillat S., Chipperfield M.P., Feng W., Daffer W.H., Manney G.L., Drummond J.R., McLinden C., Ménard R. A study of the Arctic NO budget above Eureka, Canada // J. Geophys. Res.: Atmos. 2011. V. 116, N 23. DOI: 10.1029/2011JD016207.
4. Davies D.S. Denitrification and ozone loss in the Arctic stratosphere: PhD Thesis. England: University of Leeds, School of the Environment, 2003. 382 p.
5. Tritscher I., Pitts M.C., Poole L.R., Alexander S.P., Cairo F., Chipperfield M.P., Grooß J.-U., Höpfner M., Lambert A., Luo B.P., Molleker S., Orr A., Salawitch R., Snels M., Spang R., Woiwode W., Peter T. Polar stratospheric clouds: Satellite observations, processes, and role in ozone depletion // Rev. Geophys. 2021. V. 59, N 2. DOI: 10.1029/2020RG000702.
6. Khosrawi F., Urban J., Pitts M.C., Voelger P., Achtert P., Kaphlanov M., Santee M.L., Manney G.L., Murtagh D., Fricke K.-H. Denitrification and polar stratospheric cloud formation during the Arctic winter 2009/2010 // Atmos. Chem. Phys. 2011. V. 11. P. 8471–8487. DOI: 10.5194/acp-11-8471-2011.
7. Molleker S., Borrmann S., Schlager H., Luo B., Frey W., Klingebiel M., Weigel R., Ebert M., Mitev V., Matthey R., Woiwode W., Oelhaf H., Dörnbrack A., Stratmann G., Grooß J.-U., Günther G., Vogel B., Müller R., Krämer M., Meyer J., Cairo F. Microphysical properties of synoptic-scale polar stratospheric clouds: In situ measurements of unexpectedly large HNO₃^–containing particles in the Arctic vortex // Atmos. Chem. Phys. 2014. V. 14, N 19. P. 10785–10801. DOI: 10.5194/acp-14-10785-2014.
8. Spang R., Hoffmann L., Müller R., Grooß J.-U., Tritscher I., Höpfner M., Pitts M., Orr A., Riese M. A climatology of polar stratospheric cloud composition between 2002 and 2012 based on MIPAS/Envisat observations // Atmos. Chem. Phys. 2018. V. 18, N 7. P. 5089–5113. DOI: 10.5194/acp-18-5089-2018.
9. Schoeberl M.R., Kawa S.R., Douglass A.R., McGee T.J., Browell E.V., Waters J., Livesey N., Read W., Froidevaux L., Santee M.L., Pumphrey H.C., Lait L.R., Twigg L. Chemical observations of a polar vortex intrusion // J. Geophys. Res. 2006. V. 111, N D20. P. D20306. DOI: 10.1029/2006JD007134.
10. Smale D., Strahan S.E., Querel R., Frieß U., Nedoluha G.E., Nichol S.E., Robinson J., Boyd I., Kotkamp M.R., Gomez M., Murphy M., Tran H., McGaw J. Evolution of observed ozone, trace gases, and meteorological variables over Arrival Heights, Antarctica (77.8° S, 166.7° E) during the 2019 Antarctic stratospheric sudden warming // Tellus B: Chem. Phys. Meteorol. 2021. V. 73, N 1. P. 1–18. DOI: 10.1080/16000889.2021.1933783.
11. Northway M.J., Popp P., Gao R., Fahey D., Toon G., Bui T. Relating inferred HNO₃ flux values to the denitrification of the 1999–2000 Arctic vortex // Geophys. Res. Lett. 2002. V. 29, N 16. P. 1816. DOI: 10.1029/2002GL015000.
12. Feng W., Dhomse S.S., Arosio C., Weber M., Burrows J.P., Santee M.L., Chipperfield M.P. Arctic ozone depletion in 2019/20: Roles of chemistry, dynamics and the Montreal Protocol // Geophys. Res. Lett. 2021. V. 48. P. e2020GL091911. DOI: 10.1029/2020GL091911.
13. Manney G.L., Livesey N.J., Santee M.L., Froidevaux L., Lambert A., Lawrence Z.D., Millán L.F., Neu J.L., Read W.G., Schwartz M.J., Fuller R.A. Record low Arctic stratospheric ozone in 2020: MLS observations of chemical processes and comparisons with previous extreme winters // Geophys. Res. Lett. 2020. V. 47. P. e2020GL089063. DOI: 10.1029/2020GL089063.
14. Solomon S., Kinnison D., Bandoro J., Garcia R. Simulation of polar ozone depletion: An update // J. Geophys. Res.: Atmos. 2015. V. 120, N 15. P. 7958–7974. DOI: 10.1002/2015JD023365.
15. Irie H., Koike M., Kondo Y., Bodeker G.E., Danilin M.Y., Sasano Y. Redistribution of nitric acid in the Arctic lower stratosphere during the winter of 1996–1997 // J. Geophys. Res.: Atmos. 2001. V. 106, N D19. P. 23139–23150. DOI: 10.1029/2001JD900240.
16. Crutzen P.J., Arnold F. Nitric acid cloud formation in the cold Antarctic stratosphere: A major cause for the springtime “ozone hole” // Nature. 1986. V. 324, N 6098. P. 651–655.
17. Roy R., Kuttippurath J. The dynamical evolution of sudden stratospheric warmings of the Arctic winters in the past decade 2011–2021 // SN Appl. Sci. 2022. V. 4. P. 105. DOI: 10.1007/s42452-022-04983-4.
18. Kuttippurath J., Feng W., Müller R., Kumar P., Raj S., Gopikrishnan G.P., Roy R. Exceptional loss in ozone in the Arctic winter/spring of 2019/2020 // Atmos. Chem. Phys. 2021. V. 21. P. 14019–14037. DOI: 10.5194/acp-21-14019-2021.
19. Rao J., Garfinkel C.I. Arctic ozone loss in March 2020 and its seasonal prediction in CFSv2: A comparative study with the 1997 and 2011 cases // J. Geophys. Res.: Atmos. 2020. V. 125, N 21. DOI: 10.1029/2020JD033524.
20. Баженов О.Е. Оксид хлора как индикатор разрушения озона в зимне-весенней стратосфере Арктики по данным спутниковых (Aura MLS) наблюдений // Оптика атмосф. и океана. 2023. Т. 36, № 11. С. 904–909. DOI: 10.15372/AOO20231105; Bazhenov O.E. Chlorine oxide as an indicator of ozone destruction in the winter–spring Arctic stratosphere based on Aura MLS observations // Atmos. Ocean. Opt. 2024. V. 37, N 1. P. 48–54.
21. Vargin P.N., Koval A.V., Guryanov V.V. Arctic stratosphere dynamical processes in the winter 2021–2022 // Atmosphere. 2022. V. 13. P. 1550. DOI: 10.3390/atmos13101550.