Abstract

Vertical profiles of total reactive nitrogen (NOy = NO2 + HNO3 + ClONO2 + 2N2O5 + HO2NO2) along with the source gas N2O up to 38 km were retrieved from infrared limb emission spectra measured by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding, Balloonborne version (MIPAS‐B) instrument from Aire sur l'Adour (France, 42°N) on April 30, 1999. Three limb sequences of spectra were recorded 1 hour before, at and 3 hours after sunrise, respectively, allowing to investigate the NOy partitioning under night‐time and ‐ for the first time with the MIPAS‐B instrument ‐ also under day‐time conditions and to study the temporal evolution of the short‐lived species N2O5 and NO2 around sunrise. The MIPAS‐B data are compared to calculations performed with the 3‐D chemical transport model KASIMA (Karlsruhe Simulation model of the Middle Atmosphere). This comparison reveals a high degree of confidence in the model for the HNO3/NOy ratio in the whole altitude region and for the N2O5/NOy and NO2/NOy ratios above about 26 km. Below this altitude the N2O5/NOy ratio is significantly underestimated by the model. Also, the MIPAS‐B measurement suggests a night‐time built up of NO2 which is not reproduced by the model in an altitude region around 22 km.

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