Mountain wave PSC dynamics and microphysics from ground-based lidar measurements and meteorological modeling

J. Reichardt, A. Dörnbrack, S. Reichardt, P. Yang, T. J. McGee
2003 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions  
Mountain wave PSC dynamics and microphysics from ground-based lidar measurements and meteorological modeling. Abstract The exceptional day-long observation of a polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) by two ground-based lidars at the Swedish research facility Esrange (67.9 • N, 21.1 • E) on 16 January 1997 is analyzed in terms of PSC dynamics and microphysics. Mesoscale meteorological modeling is utilized to resolve the time-space ambiguity of the lidar 5 measurements. Microphysical properties of the
more » ... SC particles are retrieved by comparing the measured particle depolarization ratio and the PSC-averaged lidar ratio with theoretical optical data derived for different particle shapes. In the morning, nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) particles and then increasingly coexisting liquid ternary aerosol (LTA) were detected as outflow from a mountain wave-induced ice PSC upwind Esrange. 20 upwind wave-processed LTA was observed only. Our study demonstrates that groundbased lidar measurements of PSCs can be comprehensively interpreted if combined with mesoscale meteorological data.
doi:10.5194/acpd-3-5831-2003 fatcat:4bcsukgygrcr7bsgtmbftq2ctm