Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II and III aerosol extinction measurements in the Arctic middle and upper troposphere

Abstract

In recent years, substantial effort has been expended toward understanding the impact of tropospheric aerosols on Arctic climate and chemistry. A significant part of this effort has been the collection and documentation of extensive aerosol physical and optical property data sets. However, the data sets present significant interpretive challenges because of the diverse nature of these measurements. Among the longest continuous records is that by the spaceborne Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II. Although SAGE tropospheric measurements are restricted to the middle and upper troposphere, they may be able to provide significant insight into the nature and variability of tropospheric aerosol, particularly when combined with ground and airborne observations. This paper demonstrates the capacity of aerosol products from SAGE II and its follow‐on experiment SAGE III to describe the temporal and vertical variations of Arctic aerosol characteristics. We find that the measurements from both instruments are consistent enough to be combined. Using this combined data set, we detect a clear annual cycle in the aerosol extinction for the middle and upper Arctic troposphere.