Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2012

DOI

10.1029/2011JD016423

Publication Title

Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

Volume

117

Issue

5

Pages

D05308 (1-9)

Abstract

This work reports the first remote sensing measurements of atmospheric HFC-23 (CHF3) using solar occultation measurements made by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mark IV (MkIV) balloon interferometer. A total of 8809 ACE occultations measured between 2004 and 2010 have been processed, along with 24 MkIV occultations measured between 1989 and 2007. ACE data (yearly averages over the 10-25 km altitude range) in the tropics/subtropics (40°S-40°N) reveal a trend of 4.0 ± 1.6% per year in the growth of HFC-23 for 2004-2009 (or 3.9 ± 1.2% per year for 2004-2010), slightly smaller than surface measurements from Cape Grim air archive samples over the same time period (4.7 ± 0.3% per year). The northern midlatitude and high-latitude MkIV data (averaged over the 10-25 km altitude range) indicate a growth rate of 5.8 ± 0.3% per year over the period 1989-2007 (5.3 ± 0.4% per year for just the midlatitude data), similar to the Cape Grim surface trend of 5.7 ± 0.1% per year over the same period. The absolute HFC-23 volume mixing ratios measured by ACE and MkIV in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere are in good agreement (<5% bias) with each other but are ∼30% larger than ground-based measurements. The source of this bias has not been definitively ascertained; however, spectroscopic errors are the most likely cause. Copyright 2012 by the American Geophysical Union.

Original Publication Citation

Harrison, J. J., Boone, C. D., Brown, A. T., Allen, N. D. C., Toon, G. C., & Bernath, P. F. (2012). First remote sensing observations of trifluoromethane (HFC-23) in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 117(5), D05308. doi:10.1029/2011JD016423

ORCID

0000-0002-1255-396X (Bernath)

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