Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C511248/1
Tracer distributions in the Tropical Lower Stratosphere.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor JA Pyle, University of Cambridge, Chemistry
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor RG Grainger, University of Oxford, Oxford Physics
- Grant held at:
- University of Cambridge, Chemistry
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Overall Classification:
- Atmospheric
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Science Topics:
- Stratospheric Processes
- Large Scale Dynamics/Transport
- Abstract:
- Measurements of halocarbons (CFCs and other halogen-containing compounds) in the tropical stratosphere will be made from a long duration MIR balloon. The balloon and instruments are capable of flying for three or more weeks in which time they will circum-navigate the globe. As the balloon rises each morning and falls each evening, measurements of halocarbons will be made every few hundred meters between about 20 and 30 km. In total it is hoped that over 40 such vertical profiles will be obtained. Similar measurements between 15 and 25km will be made from short duration balloons within the EU SCOUT-03 project These measurements will be compared with similar measurements made by the MIPAS and HIRDLS remote-sensing instruments on the ESA ENVISAT and NASA AURA satellites, respectively. The tropical distributions of these trace compounds will be used to improve our understanding of how enters the tropical stratosphere, how much is transported up to high altitudes through the so-called 'tropical pipe' and how much is mixed with air from the lower stratosphere in the extra-tropics. These processes are in general poorly represented in global atmospheric models, largely because few measurements of these trace gases have been made in the tropical stratosphere, with very few at altitudes above 20km. The combination of high quality, high resolution measurements from balloons with lower resolution, global measurements from satellite instruments will greatly add to our existing knowledge of this region. In order to achieve this, two working instruments need to be constructed based on an existing prototype developed in the Dept of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. This lightweight, low power gas chromatograph with electron capture detector (GC-ECD) has been developed in the NERC COSMAS programme and is now ready for integration on a MIR balloon operated by CNES, the French space agency. It will form a joint payload with the proven SAOZ instrument which measures profiles of O3, NO2 and H2O. The SAOZ-MIR has flown successfully several times on MIR balloons and the combined payload will provide a powerful set of measurements. Integration of a new instrument as a MIR payload will take a great deal of careful work in order to have the correct heat, power and communication control in a remote environment. The help of an experienced scientific collaborator will be invaluable. The MIPAS and HIRDLS instruments are advanced infra-red sounding instruments. They can obtain global fields of many trace species. MIPAS has the advantage of measuring more chemical compounds, but has a lower vertical resolution, while HIRDLS has a higher vertical resolution for a smaller number of compounds. The combination of these two satellite data sets will provide additional information to either individually. The Dept of Physics at the University of Oxford will apply the experience based on a long tradition of being world leaders in extracting the maximum information from satellite measurements. A range of atmospheric modelling tools will be used in the interpretation of the measurements. These range from simple, conceptual models of how air moves in the tropical lower stratosphere to complex three dimensional global models of the atmosphere and data assimilation models. Results from these models will be compared with the measurements to see how good are their descriptions of the tropical lower stratosphere.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C511248/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Standard Grant
This grant award has a total value of £315,681
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Staff | Total - Other Costs | Total - Indirect Costs | Total - Equipment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £10,129 | £147,298 | £80,498 | £67,757 | £10,000 |
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