www.atmos-chem-phys.org/acp/3/1991 / Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Stratospheric water vapour as tracer for Vortex filamentation in the Arctic winter 2002/2003

• Main Authors: R. Neuber, F. Fierli, A. Hauchecorne, S. J. Oltmans
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Arctic; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.592.7941; http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/32/83/56/PDF/acp-3-1991-2003.pdf

Abstract. Balloon-borne frost point hygrometers measured three high-resolution profiles of stratospheric water vapour above Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen during winter 2002/2003. The profiles obtained on 12 December 2002 and on 17 Jan-uary 2003 provide an insight into the vertical distribution of water vapour in the core of the polar vortex. The water vapour sounding on 11 February 2003 was obtained within the vortex edge region of the lower stratosphere. Here, a sig-nificant reduction of water vapour mixing ratio was observed between 16 and 19 km. The stratospheric temperatures indi-cate that this dehydration was not caused by the presence of polar stratospheric clouds or earlier PSC particle sedimenta-tion. Ozone observations on this day indicate a large scale movement of the polar vortex and show laminae in the same