Research Objectives:
Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) play a pivotal role in polar ozone depletion. Heterogeneous chemistry occurs on the surface of the particles in these clouds releasing active chlorine that destroys ozone. There are two foci of this project: The development and status of the antarctic ozone hole and the characteristics of polar stratospheric clouds.
To continue data collection on the ozone hole begun in 1986, team members will launch small balloons with instrument payloads from McMurdo Station beginning at WINFLY and continuing about 3 months. Approximately about 40 ozonesondes and 8 aerosol counters will provide concentration profiles of ozone and aerosol from the surface to 30-35 kilometers altitude. Measurements of vertical ozone profiles are archived in the database of the Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change, a global set of high-quality remote-sounding research stations for observing and understanding the physical and chemical state of the atmosphere (see www.ndsc.ws on the Internet).
Observations of Polar stratospheric clouds began in 1990. During the dark periods of WINFLY and over the austral winter project team members and station personnel will take LIDAR (LIght Detecting and Ranging) measurements. The LIDAR measurements will also be used to supplement the balloon-borne aerosol measurements. LIDAR enables researchers to study PSCs, stratospheric aerosol, and the thermal behavior and dynamics of the atmosphere above McMurdo Station. Continuous LIDAR observations provide insight into these PSCs, more specifically, estimates of the size and concentration of the particles that form in them and estimates of the surfaces available for heterogeneous chemistry (the activation of chlorine so it can destroy ozone), of the rates of denitrification and dehydration, and of particle composition.
This project is a collaboration between Italian researchers and the University of Wyoming.
