Observations of Absorbing Layers in the Antarctic Stratosphere in October
1991
J. E. Harries (1), J. M. Russell III (2), J. Park (2), A. F. Tuck (3),
and S. R. Drayson (4)
(1) Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science, Technology,
and Medicine, University of London
(2) NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681
(3) NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80304
(4) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
ABSTRACT
Measurements of the transmission of solar infrared radiation through the
earth's atmosphere, by the HALOE experiment on the UARS spacecraft, were
made at high southern latitudes during October 1991. These observations
are direct measurements of atmospheric transmission, and do not need to
be passed through a composition or temperature retrieval process; they
are, therefore, amenable to direct interpretation. During October 1991
the profiles of transmittance versus height in the atmosphere show clear
evidence for the arrival (from more northerly latitudes) of layers of some
material which absorbs infrared radiation, at heights of up to 28 km. The
spatial structure of the absorbing material shows considerable variability
with longitude at a given latitude. The spectral properties of the detected
absorption, measured at the various HALOE wavelengths, are consistent with
absorption by sulphate aerosol, and clearly implicate the volcanic eruptions
from Mts Pinatubo and Hudson during 1991. These results provide direct
and detailed evidence for the arrival of layers of what appears to be sulphate
aerosol during the 1991 southern spring, at latitudes as high as 80 degrees
south.
Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc. (1995) Vol. 121, 655-667
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