A 2003 stratospheric aerosol extinction and PSC climatology from GOMOS measurements on Envisat

• Published in: Atmospheric chemistry and physics Vol. 5; no. 8; pp. 2413 - 2417
• Main Authors: Vanhellemont, F, Fussen, D, Bingen, C, Kyroelae, E, Tamminen, J, Sofieva, V, Hassinen, S, Verronen, P, Seppaelae, A, Bertaux, J L, Hauchecorne, A, Dalaudier, F, D'Andon, OFanton, Barrot, G, Mangin, A, Theodore, B, Guirlet, M, Renard, J B, Fraisse, R, Snoeij, P, Koopman, R, Saavedra, L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2005
• ISSN: 1680-7316; 1680-7324

Stratospheric aerosols play an important role in a number of atmospheric issues such as midlatitude ozone depletion, atmospheric dynamics and the Earth radiative budget. Polar stratospheric clouds on the other hand are a crucial factor in the yearly Arctic and Antarctic ozone depletion. It is therefore important to quantify the stratospheric aerosol/PSC abundance. In orbit since March 2002, the GOMOS instrument onboard the European Envisat satellite has provided a vast aerosol extinction data set. In this paper we present aerosol/PSC zonal median values that were constructed from this data set, together with a discussion of the results.