Comparison between ACE and CALIPSO observations of Antarctic polar stratospheric clouds

Abstract

The depletion of stratospheric ozone is catalyzed by polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) that form in the cold polar winter. The space-based lidar onboard CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) has been the reference instrument for measuring PSCs. Recently, the infrared transmission spectra recorded by the Fourier transform instrument on the ACE (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment) satellite has provided measurements of PSC composition. We report on coincident observations made by the CALIPSO and the ACE satellites for three late winter periods (2016, 2018 and 2019) and evaluate CALIPSO's determination of PSC composition relative to ACE's findings. We found that CALIPSO and ACE generally agree well for the detection of nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) clouds. However, CALIPSO detects some NAT clouds where ACE detects supercooled ternary solutions of nitric and sulfuric acid (STS). Similarly, CALIPSO only partially detects ice in ACE's ice clouds. Overall, these results seem to show that CALIPSO's NAT classification might be too inclusive. We also found that supercooled nitric acid (SNA) clouds, a new classification, are labelled as STS by CALIPSO.