Particle microphysics and chemistry in remotely observed mountain polar stratospheric clouds

Abstract

Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) at 22–26 km were observed over the Norwegian mountains by airborne lidar on January 15, 1995. Simulations using a mesoscale model reveal that they were caused by mountain-induced gravity waves. The clouds had a highly detailed filamentary structure with bands as thin as 100 m in the vertical, and moved insignificantly over 4 hours, suggesting them to be quasi-stationary. The aircraft flight path was parallel or close to parallel with the wind at cloud level. Such a quasi-Lagrangian observation, together with the presence of distinct aerosol layers, allows an air parcel trajectory through the cloud to be constructed and enables the lidar images to be simulated using a microphysical box model and light scattering calculations. The results yield detailed information about particle evolution in PSCs and suggest that water ice nucleated directly from liquid HNO₃/H₂SO₄/H₂O droplets as much as 4 K below the ice frost point. The observation of solid nitric acid hydrate particles downwind of the mountains shows that such mesoscale events can generate solid PSC particles that can persist on the synoptic scale. We also draw attention to the possible role of mesoscale PSCs in chlorine activation and subsequent ozone destruction.