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Solar eruptions in early 2005 led to a substantial barrage of charged particles on the Earth's atmosphere during the 16-21 January period. Proton fluxes were greatly increased during these several days and led to the production of HOx (H, OH, HO2) and NOx (N, NO, NO2), which then caused the destruction of ozone. We focus on the Northern polar region, where satellite measurements and simulations with the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM3) showed large enhancements in mesospheric HOx and NOx constituents, and associated ozone reductions, due to these solar proton events (SPEs). The WACCM3 simulations show enhanced short-lived OH and HO2 concentrations throughout the mesosphere in the 60-82.5° N latitude band due to the SPEs for most days in the 16-21 January 2005 period, somewhat higher in abundance than those observed by the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). These HOx enhancements led to huge predicted and MLS-measured ozone decreases of greater than 40% throughout most of the northern polar mesosphere during the SPE period. Envisat Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) measurements of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) show increases throughout the stratosphere with highest enhancements of about 60 pptv in the lowermost mesosphere over the 16-18 January 2005 period due to the solar protons. WACCM3 predictions indicate H2O2 enhancements over the same time period of about three times that amount. Measurements of nitric acid (HNO3) by both MLS and MIPAS show an increase of about 1 ppbv above background levels in the upper stratosphere during 16-29 January 2005. WACCM3 simulations show only minuscule HNO3 increases (< 0.05 ppbv) in the upper stratosphere during this time period. Polar mesospheric enhancements of NOx are computed to be greater than 50 ppbv during the SPE period due to the small loss rates during winter. Computed NOxx increases, which were statistically significant at the 95% level, lasted about a month past the SPEs. The SCISAT-1 Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier TransformSpectrometer NOx measurements and MIPAS NO2 measurements for the polar Northern Hemisphere are in reasonable agreement with these predictions. An extremely large ground level enhancement (GLE) occurred during the SPE period on 20 January 2005. We find that protons of energies 300 to 20 000MeV, associated with this GLE, led to very small enhanced lower stratospheric odd nitrogen concentrations of less than 0.1% and ozone decreases of less than 0.01 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive ozone measurements were made during the second SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE II). We compare high-latitude line-of-sight (LOS) slant column ozone measurements from the NASA DC-8 to ozone simulated by forward integration of measurement-derived ozone fields constructed both with and without the assumption of horizontal homogeneity. The average bias and rms error of the simulations assuming homogeneity are relatively small (-6 and 10%, respectively) in comparison to the LOS measurements. The comparison improves significantly (-2% bias; 8% rms error) using forward integrations of three-dimensional proxy ozone fields reconstructed from potential vorticity--O3 correlations. The comparisons provide additional verification of the proxy fields and quantify the influence of large-scale ozone inhomogeneity. The spatial inhomogeneity of the atmosphere is a source of error in the retrieval of trace gas vertical profiles and column abundance from LOS measurements, as well as a complicating factor in intercomparisons that include LOS measurements at large solar zenith angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 2003 SAGE (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment) III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE) II, the fourteen-channel NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS-14) was mounted on the NASA DC-8 aircraft and measured spectra of total and aerosol optical depth (TOD and AOD) during the sunlit portions of eight science flights. Values of ozone column content above the aircraft have been derived from the AATS-14 measurements by using a linear least squares method that exploits the differential ozone absorption in the seven AATS-14 channels located within the Chappuis band. We compare AATS-14 columnar ozone retrievals with temporally and spatially near-coincident measurements acquired by the SAGE III and the Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement (POAM) III satellite sensors during four solar occultation events observed by each satellite. RMS differences are 19 DU (6% of the AATS value) for AATS-SAGE and 10 DU (3% of the AATS value) for AATS-POAM. In these checks of consistency between AATS-14 and SAGE III or POAM III ozone results, the AATS-14 analyses use airmass factors derived from the relative vertical profiles of ozone and aerosol extinction obtained by SAGE III or POAM III. We also compare AATS-14 ozone retrievals for measurements obtained during three DC-8 flights that included extended horizontal transects with total column ozone data acquired by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) satellite sensors. To enable these comparisons, the amount of ozone in the column below the aircraft is estimated either by assuming a climatological model or by combining SAGE and/or POAM data with high resolution in-situ ozone measurements acquired by the NASA Langley Research Center chemiluminescent ozone sensor, FASTOZ, during the aircraft vertical profile at the start or end of each flight. Resultant total column ozone values agree with corresponding TOMS and GOME measurements to within 10-15 DU (∼3%) for AATS data acquired during two flights -- a longitudinal transect from Sweden to Greenland on 21 January, and a latitudinal transect from 47° N to 35° N on 6 February. For the round trip DC-8 latitudinal transect between 34° N and 22° N on 19-20 December 2002, resultant AATS-14 ozone retrievals plus below-aircraft ozone estimates yield a latitudinal gradient that is similar in shape to that observed by TOMS and GOME, but resultant AATS values exceed the corresponding satellite values by up to 30 DU at certain latitudes. These differences are unexplained, but they are attributed to spatial and temporal variability that was associated with the dynamics near the subtropical jet but was unresolved by the satellite sensors. For selected cases, we also compare AATS-14 ozone retrievals with values derived from coincident measurements by the other two DC-8 based solar occultation instruments: the National Center for Atmospheric Research Direct beam Irradiance Airborne Spectrometer (DIAS) and the NASA Langley Research Center Gas and Aerosol Monitoring System (GAMS). AATS and DIAS retrievals agree to within RMS differences of 1% of the AATS values for the 21 January and 19-20 December flights, and 2.3% for the 6 February flight. Corresponding AATS-GAMS RMS differences are ∼3% for the 21 January flight; GAMS data were not compared for the 6 February flight and were not available for the 19-20 December flight. Line of sight ozone retrievals from coincident measurements obtained by the three DC-8 solar occultation instruments during the SAGE III solar occultation event on 24 January yield RMS differences of 2.1% for AATS-DIAS and 4.2% for AATS-GAMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 2003 SAGE (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment) III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE) II, the fourteen-channel NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS-14) was mounted on the NASA DC-8 aircraft and measured spectra of total and aerosol optical depth (TOD and AOD) during the sunlit portions of eight science flights. Values of ozone column content above the aircraft have been derived from the AATS-14 measurements by using a linear least squares method that exploits the differential ozone absorption in the seven AATS-14 channels located within the Chappuis band. We compare AATS-14 columnar ozone retrievals with temporally and spatially near-coincident measurements acquired by the SAGE III and the Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement (POAM) III satellite sensors during four solar occultation events observed by each satellite. RMS differences are 19 DU (7% of the AATS value) for AATS-SAGE and 10 DU (3% of the AATS value) for AATS-POAM. In these checks of consistency between AATS-14 and SAGE III or POAM III ozone results, the AATS-14 analyses use airmass factors derived from the relative vertical profiles of ozone and aerosol extinction obtained by SAGE III or POAM III. We also compare AATS-14 ozone retrievals for measurements obtained during three DC-8 flights that included extended horizontal transects with total column ozone data acquired by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) satellite sensors. To enable these comparisons, the amount of ozone in the column below the aircraft is estimated either by assuming a climatological model or by combining SAGE and/or POAM data with high resolution in-situ ozone measurements acquired by the NASA Langley Research Center chemiluminescent ozone sensor, FASTOZ, during the aircraft vertical profile at the start or end of each flight. Resultant total column ozone values agree with corresponding TOMS and GOME measurements to within 10-15 DU (∼3%) for AATS data acquired during two flights -- a longitudinal transect from Sweden to Greenland on 21 January, and a latitudinal transect from 47° N to 35° N on 6 February. For the round trip DC-8 latitudinal transect between 34° N and 22° N on 19-20 December 2002, resultant AATS-14 ozone retrievals plus below-aircraft ozone estimates yield a latitudinal gradient that is similar in shape to that observed by TOMS and GOME, but resultant AATS values exceed the corresponding satellite values by up to 30 DU at certain latitudes. These differences are unexplained, but they are attributed to spatial and temporal variability that was associated with the dynamics near the subtropical jet but was unresolved by the satellite sensors. For selected cases, we also compare AATS-14 ozone retrievals with values derived from coincident measurements by the other two DC-8 based solar occultation instruments: the National Center for Atmospheric Research Direct beam Irradiance Airborne Spectrometer (DIAS) and the NASA Langley Research Center Gas and Aerosol Monitoring System (GAMS). AATS and DIAS retrievals agree to within RMS differences of 1% of the AATS values for the 21 January and 19-20 December flights, and 2.3% for the 6 February flight. Corresponding AATS-GAMS RMS differences are ∼1.5% for the 21 January flight; GAMS data were not compared for the 6 February flight and were not available for the 19-20 December flight. Line of sight ozone retrievals from coincident measurements obtained by the three DC-8 solar occultation instruments during the SAGE III solar occultation event on 24 January yield RMS differences of 2.1% for AATS-DIAS and 0.5% for AATS-GAMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SLIMCAT three-dimensional chemical transport model (CTM) is used to infer chemical ozone loss from Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement (POAM) III observations of stratospheric ozone during the Arctic winter of 2002-2003. Inferring chemical ozone loss from satellite data requires quantifying ozone variations due to dynamical processes. To accomplish this, the SLIMCAT model was run in a "passive" mode from early December until the middle of March. In these runs, ozone is treated as an inert, dynamical tracer. Chemical ozone loss is inferred by subtracting the model passive ozone, evaluated at the time and location of the POAM observations, from the POAM measurements themselves. This "CTM Passive Subtraction" technique relies on accurate initialization of the CTM and a realistic description of vertical/horizontal transport, both of which are explored in this work. The analysis suggests that chemical ozone loss during the 2002-2003 winter began in late December. This loss followed a prolonged period in which many polar stratospheric clouds were detected, and during which vortex air had been transported to sunlit latitudes. A series of stratospheric warming events starting in January hindered chemical ozone loss later in the winter of 2003. Nevertheless, by 15 March, the final date of the analysis, ozone loss maximized at 425K at a value of about 1.2 ppmv, a moderate amount of loss compared to loss during the unusually cold winters in the late-1990s. SLIMCAT was also run with a detailed stratospheric chemistry scheme to obtain the modelpredicted loss. The SLIMCAT model simulation also shows a maximum ozone loss of 1.2 ppmv at 425 K, and the morphology of the loss calculated by SLIMCAT was similar to that inferred from the POAM data. These results from the recently updated version of SLIMCAT therefore give a much better quantitative description of polar chemical ozone loss than older versions of the same model. Both the inferred and modeled loss calculations show the early destruction in late December and the region of maximum loss descending in altitude through the remainder of the winter and early spring [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the effects of polar mesospheric cloud (PMC) formation on the chemical environment of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Of specific interest is how the dehydration due to mesospheric ice particle formation leads to significant seasonal decreases in the atomic hydrogen near the mesopause at middle to high latitudes. Using a three‐dimensional whole atmosphere coupled chemistry/dynamics model, we simulate the effects of this dehydration, and via comparisons with three data sets taken from two NASA satellites, we quantify the perturbations to atomic hydrogen and water vapor. We also identify a local ozone maximum that results from the PMC‐induced decrease in atomic hydrogen. Further, the large interannual variability in the onset of the Southern Hemisphere PMC season correlates well with the interannual variability of early summer atomic hydrogen at 95 km. Since the PMC onset is known to be controlled by interannual variations in the Southern Hemisphere stratospheric polar vortex, this correlation indicates a coupling between the stratosphere and the chemistry of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Finally, our model results suggest that the seasonal biteout in atomic hydrogen propagates up into the thermosphere and to lower latitudes. This raises the intriguing possibility that PMC formation might play a role in modulating the escape of hydrogen from the atmosphere. Plain Language Summary: Polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) are Earth's highest clouds (82 km altitude). They consist of nanometer‐sized ice crystals nucleated onto meteoric smoke particles. When these clouds are formed, they dehydrate the surrounding atmosphere and when these clouds sublimate, they release the water vapor back into the surrounding environment. These patterns of condensation and sublimation are observed from NASA satellites and we model these data with a general circulation model. We quantify the effects that they have on the chemistry of the atmosphere at the edge of space. Our results show that it is possible that PMC condensation could affect the flow of hydrogen upward into the upper atmosphere. Key Points: Model of polar mesospheric cloud (PMC) effects on mesospheric chemistrySeasonal depletion of hydrogen at 95 km due to PMC condensation and associated dehydrationEffects seen at latitudes away from the PMC region, at higher altitudes up into the thermosphere as well as in a localized ozone enhancement [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]