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NASA NTRS1993

The 200- to 300-nm radiation field in the stratosphere - Comparison of models with observation

The SABE 1 experiment (Herman and Mentall, 1982) measured the direct and scattered solar radiation at wavelengths between 190 and 320 nm from a balloon floating at 40 km altitude. We use state of the art radiative transfer models together with cross sections and solar flux data commonly used in modeling of the stratosphere to calculate the direct and scattered radiation at 40 km. The comparison between theory and experiment made by Herman and Mentall (1982) is extended. Significant discrepancies in the ratio of the scattered to direct flux not discussed in their work were found in the Schumann-Runge band and above 280 nm. Possible reasons for the differences are discussed.

Kylling, A.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

HCN emissions from the explosive volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines, in June 1991

In June 1991, Mt. Pinatubo explosively erupted magma and overlying rock, with ejecta reaching stratospheric altitudes. The sulphate aerosol burden resulting from the 1991 eruption was still measurable in 1992 and its complete removal took 5-6 years. Here we present new analyses of measurements by the ATMOS instrument on the Atlas-1 Space Shuttle mission and the MkIV balloon interferometer in 1992 that show about 40-50 ppt of unexpected excess HCN in the middle stratosphere. HCN has no stratospheric sources and a lifetime of several years. Multi-year runs with the GEOS-Chem Chemistry-Transport model have been performed in order to derive the most plausible HCN injection amounts. The overall structure of the modeled HCN agrees reasonably well with observations by MkIV and ATMOS. The current best estimate is an emission of about 6 kt of HCN into the stratosphere at an altitude of about 23 km. This compares to a total gas emission in the order of 70-700 Mt, based on an emission of 14 Mt SO2 and an SO2/total gas ratio of 2% - 20%. We will discuss possible sources and formation mechanisms of the HCN. These include abiotic formation during or prior to the eruption and may involve HCN accumulated in the subaerial volcanic-hydrothermal system of Mt. Pinatubo. We present results from thermochemical equilibrium calculations as well as photochemical plume modeling in order to provide plausibility constraints on the source of the HCN.

Armin Kleinboehl↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR) Measurements Made by M-42 Active Dosimeters on NASA Balloon Flights (New Mexico & Antarctica) Resemble Levels Expected at Mars

Mimicking galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) is difficult with ground-based simulations and experimental results are limited by facility constraints. In the past year, we flew two consecutive missions on large NASA scientific balloons (to ~ 38 km altitude) launched from New Mexico (6.5-hr flight) and Antarctica (32-d flight) and will report GCR doses comparable to levels expected at the equatorial Mars surface. Measurements were made in collaboration with the DLR and utilizing the M-42 active radiation dosimeter developed for use on Artemis 1. The M-42 instrument stores data in flash memory, records charged particles over a substantial part of the trapped proton and the GCR LET spectrum, and can be easily integrated into payloads due to its compact size (182 x 44 x 22 mm; 237 g) and internal battery (up to 6 weeks of operation). Our presentation will provide an overview of the two recent balloon missions (payload description; flight profiles), and summarize the radiation data collected in the middle stratosphere, highlighting how robust, real GCR exposures can be achieved without needing to fly orbital or deep space experiments.

radiation↗

NASA NTRS1995

Measurement of HO2 and other trace gases in the stratosphere using a high resolution far-infrared spectrometer

This report covers the time period 1 January 1994 to 31 December 1994. During this reporting period we had our fourth Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) correlative balloon flight; the data from this flight have been reduced and submitted to the UARS CDHF. We have spent most of the past year analyzing data from this and past flights. For example, using data from our September 1989 balloon flight we have demonstrated for the first time ever that the rates of production and loss of ozone are in balance in the upper stratosphere. As part of this analysis, we have completed the most detailed study to date of radical partitioning throughout the stratosphere. We have also produced the first measurement of HBr and HOBr mixing ratio profiles over a full diurnal cycle.

Traub, Wesley A.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Exposing Microorganisms in the Stratosphere for Planetary Protection Project

Earths stratosphere is similar to the surface of Mars: rarified air which is dry, cold, and irradiated. E-MIST is a balloon payload that has 4 independently rotating skewers that hold known quantities of spore-forming bacteria isolated from spacecraft assembly facilities at NASA. Knowing the survival profile of microbes in the stratosphere can uniquely contribute to NASA Planetary Protection for Mars.Objectives 1. Collect environmental data in the stratosphere to understand factors impacting microbial survival. 2. Determine of surviving microbes (compared to starting quantities). 3. Examine microbial DNA mutations induced by stratosphere exposure.

Technology Portfolio System↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Convective Transport and Evolution of Clouds and aerosols in the Asian Summer Monsoon Region

The existence of a persistent layer in the lowermost stratosphere in the Asian Monsoon region is well-known and has been observed by satellites and also in situ by balloon-borne sensors. This aerosol layer has been observed to persist every year by both SAGE sensors and by CALIOP, between the tropopause and the lower boundary of the Junge stratospheric sulfate layer. But how does this layer form and why? Apparently, aerosols are lofted by convection form the Indian and Asian continents, into the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UT/LS) area in the middle of a persistent anticyclone associate with the Asian summer monsoon. But some mysteries remain. The top of this aerosol layer is well above the altitude of maximum convective outflow, so why is the top of the aerosol layer so high? Are the aerosols coming from China or from India? And finally, is there an observable impact of these aerosol on thin cirrus distributions in the UT/LS? We explore the interesting difference in altitude between the ATAL layer and the convective cloud top height, using observations from CALIOP and from SAGE. In the process of doing this we examine the accuracy of both CALIOP and SAGE cloud/aerosol discrimination, and the impact of various averaging lengths. We compare the apparent "observational tropopause" with observations from COSMIC, CALIOP (clouds), and with modeled interpolation from MERRA-2. We also compare CALIOP and CloudSat daytime cloud top heights for convective clouds with the vertical aerosol distribution, and evaluate convection in this region as represented by MERRA-2. Finally, and maybe most importantly we compare convective cloud top heights and temperatures with diurnal variability during the most recent years by using observations from the geostationary Himawari satellite. How representative are the twice-daily A-Train observations, when compared to the natural diurnal variability of convection? The goal is to establish the origins of these UT/LS aerosols, whether these aerosol distributions can be completely explained by convective transport, and to evaluate convective lofting of aerosol by models. Ultimately, the convective lofting of aerosols as modeled is needed to explain the Asian Monsoon aerosol distributions. The observations contribute much-needed information to enhance the model accuracy.

clouds↗

NASA NTRS1976

Stratospheric aerosol measurement experiment MA-007

The Apollo Soyuz Test Project Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement Experiment was flown to demonstrate that direct solar occultation measurements by photometers and photographs can be used for defining stratospheric aerosol concentrations. Supporting ground truth data were provided by laser radar and balloon borne dustsonde. Initial results show a significant difference in aerosol concentrations between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Pepin, T. J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Photolysis rates based on Schumann-Runge band approximations and irradiance measurements

The photolysis rate (J3) for CF2Cl2(F-12) in the stratosphere has been computed for three altitudes using measured solar fluxes from a balloon borne spectrometer. The rate is compared with that obtained by computing the attenuated flux using effective cross sections appropriate for the Schumann-Runge bands (J1) (Allen and Frederick, 1982). The result shows that the error in the F-12 photolysis rate caused by using the Allen and Frederick approximation is about 10 percent (J1 less than J3) for altitudes between 32 and 38 km with solar zenith angles less than about 62 degrees. For species other than O2, this implies that the discrepancy in photolysis rates associated with the Schumann-Runge band approximations are not likely to be important. Within the Schumann-Runge band region the computed errors for F-12 photolysis are about 10.5 percent at 38.13 km and increase with decreasing altitude. If this error applies to O2 photolysis, there may be the possibility of an incorrect calculation of net odd oxygen production in photochemical models.

Herman, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Variance in trace constituents following the final stratospheric warming

Concentration variations with time in trace stratospheric constituents N2O, CF2Cl2, CFCl3, and CH4 were investigated using samples collected aboard balloons flown over southern France during the summer months of 1977-1979. Data are analyzed using a tracer transport model, and the mechanisms behind the modeled tracer variance are examined. An analysis of the N2O profiles for the month of June showed that a large fraction of the variance reported by Ehhalt et al. (1983) is on an interannual time scale.

Hess, Peter↗

NASA NTRS1991

Lidar measurements at Garmisch, conversion model, and midlatitude aerosol effects

Lidar backscatter soundings of stratospheric aerosol layer were routinely made at the IFU, Garmisch-Partenkirchen. After 1979 significant perturbations of the stratosphere were observed after volcano eruptions from 1980 to 1985. A volcanically quiescent period followed until the eruption at the end of 1989. Determinations of particle extinction, mass and surface area of the stratospheric particulate load are important in climatic considerations and heterogeneous chemistry effects. Balloon-borne particle counter measurements are used to derive height and time resolved conversion factors to convert lidar backscatter data to extinction, mass and surface area values. This is done by combining particle size distributions with Mie backscatter and extinction functions. These conversion factors are applicable to midlatitude lidar observations and were used to convert ruby lidar measurement at the IFU.

Jaeger, Horst↗

NASA NTRS1994

Measurements of stratospheric ozone by rocket ozonesondes in Japan

A small optical ozone instrument has been developed for a rocket-borne dropsonde to measure the altitude profile of stratospheric ozone. It consists of a four-color filter photometer that measures the attenuation of sunlight as a function of altitude at four wavelengths in the middle ultraviolet. The ozone dropsonde is launched aboard a meteorological rocket MT-135, providing the altitude profiles of ozone as well as atmospheric temperature and wind. The rocket launchings have been carried out five times since August 1990 at Uchinoura (31 deg N, 131 deg E), Japan to measure ozone concentration from 52 to 20 km altitudes during the slow fall of the dropsonde. The ozone profiles measured in summer (August 27, 1990; Sep. 11 and 12, 1991) were very stable above an altitude of 28km. where as those measured in winter (Feb. 9, and 11, 1991) showed considerable day-to-day variations at the stratospheric altitudes. Ozone, temperature and wind profiles measured simultaneously by both rocket and balloon ozonsondes are compared with CIRA 1986 model atmosphere.

Watanabe, Takashi↗

NASA NTRS1979

Balloon-borne ozonesonde and rocket temperature and wind data gathered during the July 1977 intertropical convergence zone experiment

In middle latitudes, it is possible for large concentrations of stratospheric air to be brought down to the tropopause through folds or breaks in the tropopause. The exchange of air from the tropopause into higher altitudes is not well understood. Thus, the ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) experiment, conducted from July 16 through July 31, 1977, included a series of balloon-borne ozone soundings. The results of these soundings are presented and explain in the vertical exchange of air and provide information on the short vertical scales-of-motion. Rocketsonde data was also gathered in the ITCZ experiment in support of a stratospheric scales-of-motion study. The investigation was to determine whether rocketsonde and satellite information currently used yield information on the stratospheric horizontal wave spectrum and its importance with respect to tropospheric and mesospheric interaction and transport.

Schmidlin, F. J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Simultaneous measurement of stratospheric O3, H2O, CH4, and N2O profiles from infrared limb thermal emissions

Thermal emission measurements of the earth's stratospheric limb were made with a cryogenically cooled high-resolution Michelson interferometer on a balloon flight launched from Palestine, TX, on Nov. 6, 1984. Infrared spectra for complete limb sequences were obtained over portions of the 700-1940/cm range with an unapodized spectral resolution of 0.03/cm for tangent heights varying from 13 to 39 km. The observed data from 1125 to 1425/cm have been analyzed for simultaneous measurement of O3, H2O, CH4, and N2O profiles. The analysis employs line-by-line and layer-by-layer radiative-transfer calculations, including curvature and refraction effects. The optimum use of geometric and spectral effects is made to obtain sharply peaked weighting functions. Contributions from stratospheric aerosol are included by measuring the light extinction within the window regions of the observed spectra. The retrieved constituent profiles are compared with measurements made with a variety of techniques by other groups. The comparison shows good agreement with the published data for all gases, indicating the capability of retrieving trace gas profiles from high-resolution thermal emission limb measurements.

Abbas, M. M.↗

NASA NTRS2016

The Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer: Balloon-Borne Measurements, Satellite Observations and Modeling Approaches

Satellite observations and numerical modeling studies have demonstrated that the Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) can provide a conduit for gas-phase pollutants in south Asia to reach the lower stratosphere. Now, observations from the CALIPSO satellite have revealed the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL), a summertime accumulation of aerosols associated with ASM anticyclone, in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). The ATAL has potential implications for regional cloud properties, climate, and chemical processes in the UTLS. Here, we show in situ measurements from balloon-borne instrumentation, aircraft and satellite observations, combined with trajectory and chemical transport model (CTM) simulations to explore the origin, composition, physical and optical properties of aerosols in the ATAL. In particular, we show balloon-based observations from our BATAL-2015 field campaign to India and Saudi Arabia in summer 2015, including in situ backscatter measurements from COBALD instruments, and some of the first observations of size and volatility of aerosols in the ATAL layer using optical particle counters (OPCs). Back trajectory calculations initialized from CALIPSO observations point to deep convection over North India as a principal source of ATAL aerosols. Available aircraft observations suggest significant sulfur and carbonaceous contributions to the ATAL, which is supported by simulations using the GEOS-Chem CTM. Source elimination studies conducted with the GEOS-Chem indicate that 80-90% of ATAL aerosols originate from south Asian sources, in contrast with some earlier studies.

Fairlie, T. D.↗

NASA NTRS2013

The Relation Between Atmospheric Humidity and Temperature Trends for Stratospheric Water

We analyze the relation between atmospheric temperature and water vapor-a fundamental component of the global climate system-for stratospheric water vapor (SWV). We compare measurements of SWV (and methane where available) over the period 1980-2011 from NOAA balloon-borne frostpoint hygrometer (NOAA-FPH), SAGE II, Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE), Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS)/Aura, and Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) to model predictions based on troposphere-to-stratosphere transport from ERA-Interim, and temperatures from ERA-Interim, Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis (MERRA), Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), Radiosonde Atmospheric Temperature Products for Assessing Climate (RATPAC), HadAT2, and RICHv1.5. All model predictions are dry biased. The interannual anomalies of the model predictions show periods of fairly regular oscillations, alternating with more quiescent periods and a few large-amplitude oscillations. They all agree well (correlation coefficients 0.9 and larger) with observations for higherfrequency variations (periods up to 2-3 years). Differences between SWV observations, and temperature data, respectively, render analysis of the model minus observation residual difficult. However, we find fairly well-defined periods of drifts in the residuals. For the 1980s, model predictions differ most, and only the calculation with ERA-Interim temperatures is roughly within observational uncertainties. All model predictions show a drying relative to HALOE in the 1990s, followed by a moistening in the early 2000s. Drifts to NOAA-FPH are similar (but stronger), whereas no drift is present against SAGE II. As a result, the model calculations have a less pronounced drop in SWV in 2000 than HALOE. From the mid-2000s onward, models and observations agree reasonably, and some differences can be traced to problems in the temperature data. These results indicate that both SWV and temperature data may still suffer from artifacts that need to be resolved in order to answer the question whether the large-scale flow and temperature field is sufficient to explain water entering the stratosphere.

Fueglistaler, S.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Global circuit variability from multiple stratospheric electrical measurements

The vertical component of the electric field, conductivity, and the derived current density from eight superpressure balloons are examined. Special emphasis was placed on the fair-weather, simultaneous measurements from widely spaced constant-altitude (26 km) balloons. The conductivity measurements were well organized by a simple ionization rate parameterization depending on the geomagnetic latitude. The variability of all the electrical parameters was found to be independent of the balloon separation. Much of the time the current density measurements were within 20 percent, for simultaneous flights, even though the balloons were up to 6000 km apart. Also, these simultaneous current density data show that the global current source was significantly variable on hourly and daily time scales. Finally, the use of the simultaneous current density data is discussed as a possible 'geoelectric index'. Advantages and limitations of such an index are discussed.

Norville, Kent↗

NASA NTRS1996

NO(y) Correlation with N2O and CH4 in the Midlatitude Stratosphere

Total reactive nitrogen (NO(y)), nitrous oxide (NO2), methane (CH4), and ozone (03) were measured on board a balloon launched from Aire sur l'Adour (44 deg N, 0 deg W), France on October 12, 1994. Generally, NO(y) was highly anti-correlated with N2O and CH4 at altitudes between 15 and 32 km. The linear NO(y) - N2O and NO(y) - CH4 relationships obtained by the present observations are very similar to those obtained on board ER-2 and DC-8 aircraft previously at altitude below 20 km in the northern hemisphere. They also agree well with the data obtained by the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) instrument at 41 deg N in November 1994. Slight departures from linear correlations occurred around 29 km, where N2O and CH4 mixing ratios were larger than typical midlatitude values, suggesting horizontal transport of tropical airmasses to northern midlatitudes in a confined altitude region.

Kondo, Y.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Evaluation of 2 possible further developments of the UK in-flight radiation warning meter for SSTS

A mass reduction of the moderator and the response to the nucleon flux, responsible for the tissue-star component of the total-dose equivalent rate using a high atomic number material, are discussed. Radiation situations at SST cruising altitudes (approximately 20 km) due to solar proton flares were simulated in the stratosphere and on the ground. Actual stratospheric situations due to galactic cosmic radiation with a limited range of quality factor values (2-4) were encountered during slow ascents by balloons to 36 km. Synthetic situations obtained from high and low energy acclerator radiations were used to obtain radiation distributions having a larger range of quality factor values (11/2-9) than experienced in the stratosphere. The measurements made in these simulations related to the directly ionizing, neutron and tissue-star components of dose-equivalent rate. Due to the restricted range of neutron spectra encountered in the stratosphere, a significant mass reduction of the moderator by 4 kg was made, with the moderator clad with cadmium or some other slow neutron absorber.

Wilson, I. J.↗