Abstract
Model calculations have been performed to quantitatively estimate the amount of stratospheric H2O removed by freeze out during the winter in the Antarctic region. The model uses realistic temperature and wind fields based on Hartmann's Nimbus 5 temperature grids. For the 1973 Antarctic winter stratosphere, initial water vapor mixing ratios of 2.7 and 3.0 ppmm lead to removal of 1.6 and 2.7×1010 kg H2O from the lower stratosphere. This annual sink magnitude is small, representing about 2% of the total stratospheric H2O burden and about 10% of the apparent sink identified by Ellsaesser (1974). However, a sink of this magnitude is close to the lower rate estimates of water produced in the stratosphere by methane oxidation. The sink is not large enough to balance additional, proposed water vapor sources.
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