Lw. Thomason et Lr. Poole, USE OF STRATOSPHERIC AEROSOL PROPERTIES AS DIAGNOSTICS OF ANTARCTIC VORTEX PROCESSES, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES, 98(D12), 1993, pp. 23003-23012
Physical properties of the stratospheric aerosol population are inferr
ed from cloud-free SAGE II multiwavelength extinction measurements in
the Antarctic during late summer (February/March) and spring (Septembe
r/October, November). Seasonal changes in these properties are used to
infer physical processes occurring in the Antarctic stratosphere over
the course of the winter. The analysis suggests that the apparent spr
ingtime cleansing of the Antarctic stratosphere is the result of aeros
ol, redistribution through subsidence of the polar vortex air mass and
sedimentation of large polar stratospheric cloud particles. The analy
sis also suggests that vortex processes are responsible for a signific
ant downward transport of aerosol through the tropopause.