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In situ measurements constraining the role of sulphate aerosols in mid-latitude ozone depletion

Nature volume 363, pages 509–514 (1993)Cite this article

Abstract

In situ measurements of stratospheric sulphate aerosol, reactive nitrogen and chlorine concentrations at middle latitudes confirm the importance of aerosol surface reactions that convert active nitrogen to a less active, reservoir form. This makes mid-latitude stratospheric ozone less vulnerable to active nitrogen and more vulnerable to chlorine species. The effect of aerosol reactions on active nitrogen depends on gas phase reaction rates, so that increases in aerosol concentration following volcanic eruptions will have only a limited effect on ozone depletion at these latitudes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aeronomy Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, Colorado, 80303, USA

    D. W. Fahey, S. R. Kawa, E. L. Woodbridge, P. Tin & M. H. Proffitt

  2. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA

    S. R. Kawa, E. L. Woodbridge, P. Tin & M. H. Proffitt

  3. University of Denver, Department of Engineering, Denver, Colorado, 80208, USA

    J. C. Wilson & H. H. Jonsson

  4. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, 80307, USA

    J. E. Dye, D. Baumgardner & S. Borrmann

  5. Department of Geosciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, 92717, USA

    D. W. Toohey & L. M. Avallone

  6. Department of Chemistry, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

    L. M. Avallone

  7. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, 91109, USA

    J. Margitan

  8. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, 94035, USA

    M. Loewenstein, J. R. Podolske & K. R. Chan

  9. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

    R. J. Salawitch & S. C. Wofsy

  10. Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    M. K. W. Ko

  11. Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Maryland, 20723, USA

    D. E. Anderson

  12. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, 20771, USA

    M. R. Schoeber

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  1. D. W. Fahey
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Fahey, D., Kawa, S., Woodbridge, E. et al. In situ measurements constraining the role of sulphate aerosols in mid-latitude ozone depletion. Nature 363, 509–514 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/363509a0

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