1999 journal article

Comparison of modeled and observed values of NO2and JNO2during the Photochemistry of Ozone Loss in the Arctic Region in Summer (POLARIS) mission

Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 104(D21), 26687–26703.

By: L. Negro, D. Fahey, R. Gao, S. Donnelly, E. Keim, J. Neuman, R. Cohen, K. Perkins ...

Source: ORCID
Added: December 17, 2020

Stratospheric measurements of NO, NO 2 , O 3 , ClO, and HO 2 were made during spring, early summer, and late summer in the Arctic region during 1997 as part of the Photochemistry of Ozone Loss in the Arctic Region in Summer (POLARIS) field campaign. In the sunlit atmosphere, NO 2 and NO are in steady state through NO 2 photolysis and reactions involving O 3 , ClO, BrO, and HO 2 . By combining observations of O 3 , ClO, and HO 2 , observed and modeled values of the NO 2 photolysis rate coefficient (J NO 2 ), and model estimates of BrO, several comparisons are made between steady state and measured values of both NO 2 and J NO 2 . An apparent seasonal dependence in discrepancies between calculated and measured values was found; however, a source for this dependence could not be identified. Overall, the mean linear fits in the various comparisons show agreement within 19%, well within the combined uncertainties (±50 to 70%). These results suggest that photochemistry controlling the NO 2 /NO abundance ratio is well represented throughout much of the sunlit lower stratosphere. A reduction in the uncertainty of laboratory determinations of the rate coefficient of NO + O 3 → NO 2 + O 2 would aid future analyses of these or similar atmospheric observations.