Aerosol nucleation in the winter Arctic and Antarctic stratospheres

• Main Authors: Hamill, Patrick, Toon, O. B., Turco, R. P.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1990
• Subjects: 46; Antarctic; Arctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19900041435

The formation rate of sulfuric-acid-water aerosol particles is calculated as a function of altitude for the conditions of the winter Arctic and Antarctic stratospheres. The theoretical results indicate that sulfate particle formation can occur in the polar winter stratosphere. Conditions for new particle formation are increasingly favorable as the altitude increases between 20 and 30 km because of the decrease in surface area of preexisting particles and increasing sulfuric-acid vapor supply. The theoretical predictions are consistent with observations of a high-altitude CN layer over Antarctica in the spring. Available vapor-pressure data indicate that ternary particles composed of sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and water are not thermodynamically stable under winter stratospheric conditions.