Polar vortex meandering and stratospheric aerosol distribution: Lidar measurements at Fairbanks, Alaska (scientific paper)

• Main Authors: Yasunobu Iwasaka, Takashi Shibata, Hiroshi Adachi, Tetsu Sakai, Teturo Ojio, Motowo Fujiwara, Koichi Shiraishi, Koji Miyagawa-Kondoh, Hideki Nakane
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya Univ./Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya Univ./Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya Univ./Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya Univ./Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya Univ./Department of Applied Physics, Fukuoka Univ./Department of Applied Physics, Fukuoka Univ./Aerological Observatory, Japan Meteorological Agency/National Institute of Environmental Studies 1996
• Subjects: Fairbanks; Ny-Ålesund; Svalbard; Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; Ny Ålesund; Polar Research; Alaska
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=2282; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00002282/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=2282&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

Lidar measurements at Fairbanks, Alaska (64°49′N, 147°52′E) and Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (78°54′N, 11°53′E) in December 1991 and January 1994,respectively, were made to monitor the distribution of stratospheric aerosols. The location of the Fairbanks lidar site is advantageous to observe the effect of the polar vortex margin to stratospheric aerosol density distributions, since the lidar was sometimes located inside and sometimes outside of the polar vortex due to its meandering motion. The lidar site at Ny-Ålesund is usually inside the polar vortex in winter. The comparison of measurements at Fairbanks and Ny-Ålesund has shown that polar vortex dynamics controls profiles of stratospheric aerosol content. Above about 20km there was little aerosol content when the lidar station was inside the polar vortex. The aerosol load on the local tropopause showed large changes, which would be associated with aerosols descending from the stratosphere to the troposphere near the margin of the polar vortex. At the end of February 1994,the aerosol content of layer peak at Fairbanks was apparently smaller than that at Ny-Ålesund even though both lidar stations were inside the polar vortex.