Last Updated:
February 28, 2007

GCRIO Program Overview

Library 
Our extensive collection of documents.

Privacy Policy

Archives of the
Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 9, NUMBER 9, SEPTEMBER 1996

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
OZONE DEPLETION: AIRCRAFT EMISSIONS

Item #d96sep36

"Quantifying Transport Between the Tropical and Mid-Latitude Lower Stratosphere," C.M. Volk (CMDL, NOAA, 325 Broadway, Boulder CO 80303), J.W. Elkins et al., Science, 272(5269), 1763-1768, June 21, 1996.

Used airborne in situ observations of molecules with a wide range of lifetimes in a tropical tracer model to show that mid-latitude air is entrained into the tropical lower stratosphere within about 13.5 months. Because this exchange is slower than models generally assume, ozone at mid-latitudes may be more sensitive to elevated levels of industrial Cl than currently predicted. Nevertheless, nearly half the air in the tropical ascent region at 21 km is of mid-latitude origin, implying that a significant fraction of emissions from supersonic aircraft could reach the middle stratosphere, contributing to reduced ozone.

Item #d96sep37

"Numerical Simulation of the Aviation Release Impact on the Ozone Layer," S.P. Smyshlyaev (Russian State Hydrological Institute), V.A. Yudin, Atmos. & Oceanic Phys., 31(1), 116-124, June 1995. English translation.

The authors' 2-D zonal mean photochemical model was used to study the effects of heterogeneous processes of denitrification on sulfur aerosol in the stratosphere, and of the washing down of OH in the troposphere. Demonstrates that uncontrolled flights of 500 supersonic aircraft at 20 km altitude would lead to depletion of total ozone of 10-15% in the beginning of the next century, a problem of no less importance than destruction by CFCs.

Item #d96sep38

"The Role of Aerosol Variations in Anthropogenic Ozone Depletion at Northern Midlatitudes," S. Solomon (Aeronomy Lab., NOAA, 325 Broadway, Boulder CO 80303), R.W. Portmann et al., J. Geophys. Res., 101(D3), 6713-6727, Mar. 20, 1996.

Quantifies the role of volcanic stratospheric aerosols in ozone depletion by using satellite measurements of aerosol extent as input to a two-dimensional dynamical-chemical model. The model simulated the effects of heterogeneous ozone chemistry at northern midlatitudes over the last 15 years, a time period that included major volcanic eruptions. Results show that interannual and decadal changes in aerosols likely played a substantial role, along with trends in anthropogenic Cl and Br, in triggering the observed ozone losses. The timing and magnitude of future ozone losses in the area of investigation are likely to be strongly dependent on volcanic aerosol variations, as well as on future Cl and Br loading. The results also underscore the potential importance of any future source of particles, such as supersonic aircraft emissions.