Document Type

Abstract

Publication Date

2015

Publication Title

Geophysical Research Abstracts

Volume

17

Pages

EGU2015-8242

Conference Name

EGU General Assembly 2015, 12-17 April 2015, Vienna, Austria

Abstract

The majority of fluorine in the atmosphere has resulted from the anthropogenic emission of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Most tropospheric fluorine is present in its emitted 'organic' form due to the molecules having long lifetimes (up to a decade or longer). Thus they are able to reach the stratosphere where they are broken down, liberating fluorine. The principal degradation products are carbonyl fluoride (COF2), carbonyl chloride fluoride (COClF), and hydrogen fluoride (HF); of these HF is the most abundant. In fact at the top of the stratosphere most of the fluorine is present as HF, which, due to its extreme stability, is an almost permanent reservoir of stratospheric fluorine. Since anthropogenic emissions of fluorine continue unabated, the amount of HF in the atmosphere continues to increase.

The use of satellite remote-sensing techniques allows the measurement of HF atmospheric abundances with impressive global coverage, and the investigation of HF trends, and seasonal and latitudinal variability. This work presents global distributions and trends of HF using data from two satellite limb instruments: the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS), onboard the SCISAT satellite, which has been recording atmospheric spectra since 2004, and the HALogen Occultation Experiment, onboard the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), which recorded atmospheric spectra between 1991 and 2005. These observations are compared with the output of SLIMCAT, a state-of-the-art three-dimensional chemical transport model (CTM). The model aids in the interpretation of the HF satellite observations, and the comparison provides a validation of emission inventories and the atmospheric degradation reaction schemes used in the model.

Rights

© The Authors 2015.

Published under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) License.

Original Publication Citation

Harrison, J., Chipperfield, M., Boone, C., Bernath, P., Froidevaux, L., Anderson, J., & Russell, J., III. (2015). ACE-FTS and HALOE observations of hydrogen fluoride (HF) and their comparison with SLIMCAT chemical transport model calculations. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 17, EGU2015-8242.

ORCID

0000-0002-1255-396X (Bernath)

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