| Theory Investigation: | Theoretical Studies of Stratospheric and Tropospheric Clouds and Aerosols in Support of SOLVE | |
| Principal Investigators: | Owen B. Toon | M A. Tolbert |
| Organizations: | Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Campus Box 392 University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80309-0392 |
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences Department of Chemistry Campus Box 216 University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80309-0216 |
| Co-Investigators: | Mike Mills | |
| Organization: | Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Campus Box 392 University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80309-0392 |
Investigation Description: We will focus our efforts on interpreting SOLVE data to obtain an improved understanding of the aerosols and clouds that occur in the Arctic stratosphere and troposphere. We will perform several tasks. Toon will act as a Co-Project Scientist for the mission with responsibilities as one of the flight scientists for the DC-8 aircraft. In this role he will help with development of flight plans before the SOLVE mission, and with carrying out flight plans during the field mission. To maximize the science return, several students and a post doctoral researcher will participate in the mission. Two students, supervised by Dr. Tolbert, will participate in experiments to determine the composition of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) and the processes that control the composition. One student will participate in spectroscopic observations of the clouds, and will assist in the analysis of these data in the field. The Tolbert group has measured infrared optical constants for polar stratospheric cloud materials and has extensive experience with the expected spectral features for many possible PSC candidates. The other student will be involved with determining the composition of polar stratospheric clouds through particle sizing and possibly refractive index measurements. In the past, such data have been helpful in understanding particle composition. We will also have several people involved in more theoretical work. Dr. Mike Mills will use our two-dimensional stratospheric aerosol model to analyze SAGE III, and SOLVE data. This work should improve our modeling capability, and will aid in determining the consistency between the SAGE III and SOLVE data sets. To conduct this work we will need access to SAGE III profiles of aerosol extinction, as well as SOLVE data on aerosol abundances from lidars, and in situ particle sizing instruments. A graduate student will work on the physical chemistry of polar stratospheric clouds by combining lidar observations of PSCs with other data such as temperature. Hopefully such data will help reveal the origins of these clouds. Finally, a student will participate with mission forecasting to help decide the proper places to send the DC-8.