Measurements of CO in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere

Abstract

In situ measurements of CO were made in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (7–21 km altitude) with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Aircraft Laser Infrared Absorption Spectrometer (ALIAS) on 58 flights of the NASA ER-2 aircraft from October 1995 through September 1997, between 90°N and 3°S latitude. Measured upper tropospheric CO was variable and typically ranged between 55 and 115 ppb, except for higher values over Alaska during summer 1997. Tropical stratospheric CO ranged from 58±5 ppb at the tropopause to 12±2 ppb above 20 km, having similar profiles in all seasons of the year. The tropical profile is reproduced by a simple Lagrangian box model of tropical ascent using measured CH4 and OH concentrations, Cl and O(1D) concentrations from a photochemical model, and diabatic heating rates from a radiative heating model. From measured CO, quasi-horizontal mixing between the tropical and mid-latitude lower stratosphere is inferred to be rapid in the region between 400 K and 450 K potential temperature (altitudes less than 20 km).