THE H2SO4 COMPONENT OF STRATOSPHERIC AEROSOLS DERIVED FROM SATELLITE INFRARED EXTINCTION MEASUREMENTS - APPLICATION TO STRATOSPHERIC TRANSPORT STUDIES

The ambient water vapour and temperature conditions of stratospheric s ulphate aerosol particles govern their composition and thereby influen ce their infrared extinction properties. This causes problems in the u se of the infrared aerosol extinction as a tracer because variations i n the aerosol composition modify the changes in extinction that may ar ise from the transport of aerosols. An improved tracer which can be de rived from measurements of the infrared aerosol extinction, temperatur e and water vapour abundance, is the H2SO4 component of aerosols. The application of this tracer to studies of stratospheric transport is de monstrated using data from instruments on the Upper Atmosphere Researc h Satellite and the results are compared to a contour advection calcul ation.