Letter to the Editor: A strange cloud in the Arctic summer stratosphere 1998 above Esrange (68°N), Sweden
When the University of Bonn lidar on the Esrange (68°N, 21°E), Sweden, was switched on in the evening of July 18, 1998, a geometrically and optically thin cloud layer was present near 14 km altitude or 400 K potential temperature, where it persisted for two hours. The tropopause altitude was 4 km be...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:angeo34431 2023-05-15T15:10:32+02:00 Letter to the Editor: A strange cloud in the Arctic summer stratosphere 1998 above Esrange (68°N), Sweden Siebert, J. Timmis, C. Vaughan, G. Fricke, K. H. 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-000-0505-0 https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/18/505/2000/ eng eng doi:10.1007/s00585-000-0505-0 https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/18/505/2000/ eISSN: 1432-0576 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-000-0505-0 2020-07-20T16:27:59Z When the University of Bonn lidar on the Esrange (68°N, 21°E), Sweden, was switched on in the evening of July 18, 1998, a geometrically and optically thin cloud layer was present near 14 km altitude or 400 K potential temperature, where it persisted for two hours. The tropopause altitude was 4 km below the cloud altitude. The cloud particles depolarized the lidar returns, thus must they have been aspherical and hence solid. Atmospheric temperatures near 230 K were approximately 40 K too high to support ice particles at stratospheric water vapour pressures of a few ppmv. The isentropic back trajectory on 400 K showed the air parcels to have stayed clear of active major rocket launch sites. The air parcels at 400 K had traveled from the Aleutians across Canada and the Atlantic Ocean arriving above central Europe and then turned northward to pass over above the lidar station. Parcels at levels at ±25 K from 400 K had come from the pole and joined the 400 K trajectory path above eastern Canada. Apparently the cloud existed in a filament of air with an origin different from those filaments both above and below. Possibly the 400 K level air parcels had carried soot particles from forest wild fires in northern Canada or volcanic ash from the eruption of the Korovin Volcano in the Aleutian Islands. Key words: Atmospheric composition and structure (aerosols and particles; biosphere-atmosphere interactions) · Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmospheric dynamics) Text Arctic Aleutian Islands Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Arctic Canada Esrange ENVELOPE(21.117,21.117,67.883,67.883) Korovin ENVELOPE(156.492,156.492,52.947,52.947) Annales Geophysicae 18 4 505 509 |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
When the University of Bonn lidar on the Esrange (68°N, 21°E), Sweden, was switched on in the evening of July 18, 1998, a geometrically and optically thin cloud layer was present near 14 km altitude or 400 K potential temperature, where it persisted for two hours. The tropopause altitude was 4 km below the cloud altitude. The cloud particles depolarized the lidar returns, thus must they have been aspherical and hence solid. Atmospheric temperatures near 230 K were approximately 40 K too high to support ice particles at stratospheric water vapour pressures of a few ppmv. The isentropic back trajectory on 400 K showed the air parcels to have stayed clear of active major rocket launch sites. The air parcels at 400 K had traveled from the Aleutians across Canada and the Atlantic Ocean arriving above central Europe and then turned northward to pass over above the lidar station. Parcels at levels at ±25 K from 400 K had come from the pole and joined the 400 K trajectory path above eastern Canada. Apparently the cloud existed in a filament of air with an origin different from those filaments both above and below. Possibly the 400 K level air parcels had carried soot particles from forest wild fires in northern Canada or volcanic ash from the eruption of the Korovin Volcano in the Aleutian Islands. Key words: Atmospheric composition and structure (aerosols and particles; biosphere-atmosphere interactions) · Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmospheric dynamics) |
format |
Text |
author |
Siebert, J. Timmis, C. Vaughan, G. Fricke, K. H. |
spellingShingle |
Siebert, J. Timmis, C. Vaughan, G. Fricke, K. H. Letter to the Editor: A strange cloud in the Arctic summer stratosphere 1998 above Esrange (68°N), Sweden |
author_facet |
Siebert, J. Timmis, C. Vaughan, G. Fricke, K. H. |
author_sort |
Siebert, J. |
title |
Letter to the Editor: A strange cloud in the Arctic summer stratosphere 1998 above Esrange (68°N), Sweden |
title_short |
Letter to the Editor: A strange cloud in the Arctic summer stratosphere 1998 above Esrange (68°N), Sweden |
title_full |
Letter to the Editor: A strange cloud in the Arctic summer stratosphere 1998 above Esrange (68°N), Sweden |
title_fullStr |
Letter to the Editor: A strange cloud in the Arctic summer stratosphere 1998 above Esrange (68°N), Sweden |
title_full_unstemmed |
Letter to the Editor: A strange cloud in the Arctic summer stratosphere 1998 above Esrange (68°N), Sweden |
title_sort |
letter to the editor: a strange cloud in the arctic summer stratosphere 1998 above esrange (68°n), sweden |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-000-0505-0 https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/18/505/2000/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(21.117,21.117,67.883,67.883) ENVELOPE(156.492,156.492,52.947,52.947) |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Esrange Korovin |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Esrange Korovin |
genre |
Arctic Aleutian Islands |
genre_facet |
Arctic Aleutian Islands |
op_source |
eISSN: 1432-0576 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1007/s00585-000-0505-0 https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/18/505/2000/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-000-0505-0 |
container_title |
Annales Geophysicae |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
505 |
op_container_end_page |
509 |
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1766341553548165120 |