Engineering topics
Toon, Geoffrey C.
Publications and source records attributed to Toon, Geoffrey C..
FTIR Measurements of Cold Toluene (C7H8) Cross Sections in the 7 – 15 µM for Titan Atmosphere
No abstract provided
The Mars Atmosphere Trace Molecule Occultation Spectrometer
The Mars Atmosphere Trace Molecule Occultation Spectrometer (MATMOS) FTS is described, with emphasis on the data acquisition and on-board data processing.
On the Stratospheric Chemistry of Hydrogen Cyanide
HCN profiles measured by solar occultation spectrometry during 10 balloon flights of the JPL MkIV instrument are presented. The HCN profiles reveal a compact correlation with stratospheric tracers. Calculations with a 2D-model using established rate coefficients for the reactions of HCN with OH and O(1D) severely underestimate the measured HCN in the middle and upper stratosphere. The use of newly available rate coefficients for these reactions gives reasonable agreement of measured and modeled HCN. An HCN yield of approx.30% from the reaction of CH3CN with OH is consistent with the measurements.
Infrared measurements of atmospheric CH3CN
For the first time CH3CN has been measured in the Earth's atmosphere by means of infrared remote sensing. Vertical profiles of volume mixing ratio were retrieved from 12 solar occultation measurements by the balloon-borne JPL MkIV interferometer between 1993 and 2004. Profile retrieval is possible in an altitude range between 12 and 30 km with a precision of _20 ppt in the Arctic and _30 ppt at mid-latitudes. The retrieved CH3CN profiles show mixing ratios of 100-150 ppt a few kilometers above the tropopause that decrease to values below 40 ppt at altitudes between 22 and 30 km. The CH3CN mixing ratios show a reasonably compact correlation with the stratospheric tracers CH3Cl and CH4. The CH3CN altitude profiles and tracer correlations are well reproduced by a 2-dimensional model, suggesting that CH3CN is long-lived in the lower stratosphere and that previously-proposed ion-molecule reactions do not play a major role as loss processes of CH3CN.
Denitrification in the Arctic mid-winter 2004/2005 observed by airborne submillimeter radiometry
We present measurements of unusually low mixing ratios of HNO3 in the exceptionally cold Arctic vortex of late-January and early-February 2005. The measurements were obtained by the airborne submillimeter radiometer ASUR during the polar aura validation experiment (PAVE). The distribution of HNO3 inside the vortex reaches minima below 4 ppbv around 22 km altitude and maxima above 13 ppbv around 16 km altitude, with a considerable spatial variability.
SCIAMACHY and FTS CO2 Retrievals Using the OCO Retrieval Algorithm
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) mission will make the first global, space-based measurements of atmospheric C02 with the precision and coverage needed to characterize C02 sources and sinks on regional scales. OCO will make spectrally and spatially highly resolved measurements of reflected sunlight in the 02A -band and two near-infrared C02 bands. To test the OCO retrieval algorithm, SCIAMACHY and ground-based Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) measurements at Park Falls, Wisconsin have been analyzed. Good agreement between SCIAMACHY and FTS C02 columns has been found with SCIAMACHY showing a much larger scatter than FTS measurements. Both SCIAMACHY and FTS overestimate the surface pressure by a few percent which significantly impacts retrieved C02 columns.
Atmospheric CO2 retrieved from ground-based near IR solar spectra
The column-averaged volume mixing ratio (VMR) of CO2 over Kitt Peak, Arizona, has been retrieved from high-resolution solar absorption spectra obtained with the Fourier transform spectrometer on the McMath telescope. Simultaneous column measurements of CO2 at approx.6300/cm and O2 at approx.7900/cm were ratioed to minimize systematic errors. These column ratios were then scaled by the mean O2 VMR (0.2095) to yield column- averaged vmrs of CO2. These display similar behavior to the Mauna Loa in situ surface measurements. During the period 1977- 1995, the column-averaged mixing ratio of CO2 increased at an avenge rate of 1.49 +/- 0.04 ppmv/yr with seasonal variations of approx.7 ppmv peak-to-peak. Our retrievals demonstrate that this remote technique is capable of precisions better than 0.5%.
Comparison Of Measurments Of Atmospheric Water Vapor
Report presents experimental intercomparison among measurements by four spectrometric instruments for determining concentration of atmospheric water vapor. Three instruments ground-based and needed to provide independent data to calibrate and validate measurements taken by fourth instrument, which is airborne visible/infrared imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS). Remote down-looking instruments like AVIRIS increases accuracy and coverage of water-vapor measurements.
Increase in atmospheric CHF2Cl (HCFC-22) over southern California from 1985 to 1990
Column densities of CHF2Cl (HCFC-22) have been measured over Table Mountain Facility (TMF), Wrightwood, California (34.4 deg N) using the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. Between October 1985 and July 1990, the exponential column increase rate was (6.7 +/- 0.5)%/yr. Additionally, column measurements of CHF2Cl over McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (78 deg S) in September and October 1986 by the MarkIV FTIR spectrometer were used to derive a south-north interhemispheric ratio of (0.86 +/- 0.08). Model calculations investigated the feasibility of using CHF2Cl column measurements with a predicted global OH field to determine a globally averaged chemical lifetime for CHF2Cl, or equivalently, an estimate of the OH field using a predicted lifetime. The current uncertainty in historical CHF2Cl emissions is too large for CHF2Cl to be used to infer adequately either the lifetime or the OH field.
Heterogeneous conversion of COF2 to HF in polar stratospheric clouds
It is argued that the reaction COF2 + H2O - 2HF + CO2 should proceed on surfaces of polar stratospheric clouds, based on laboratory evidence for this reaction in condensed phase and on analysis of column observations of HF during the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition. If the hypothesis is confirmed, observations of COF2 and HF could provide unambiguous indication of heterogeneous processing of polar air, and could help elucidate the influence of heterogeneous chemistry on concentrations of HCl, ClNO3, and chlorine oxide radicals.
Three dimensional simulation of hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride during the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition
Simulations of the evolution of stratospheric distributions of hydrogen chloride (HCl) and hydrogen fluoride (HF) have been carried out for the period of the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition (AASE) with a three-dimensional chemistry-transport model. Simulations were performed assuming only homogeneous gas phase chemistry for HF and both homogeneous gas phase and heterogeneous chemistry for HCl. Results show heterogeneous loss of HCl is needed to provide agreement with infrared column measurements. Estimates of the impact of heterogeneous loss on the global HCl distribution are obtained from the model. Reductions of HCl due to heterogeneous loss are calculated to be localized to regions of high vorticity, even after more than a month of integration.
Effects of atmospheric transport on column abundances of nitrogen and chlorine compounds in the arctic stratosphere
In the absence of heterogeneous processes, distributions of NO(y), HNO3, Cl(x) and HCl in the polar winter stratosphere should be determined by transport. A model simulating distributions of these species in the arctic for January and February 1989 is developed using observed fields of potential vorticity and potential temperature. Comparison of model results with column measurements from the DC-8 indicates conversion of NO(x) to HNO3, condensation of HNO3, conversion of HCl to CINO3, and conversion of HCl plus CINO3 to an unmeasured species. Heterogeneous processes strongly affect abundances of NO(y) and Cl(x) species in the winter arctic stratosphere.