A. Herber et al., COMPARISON OF TRENDS IN THE TROPOSPHERIC AND STRATOSPHERIC AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTHS IN THE ANTARCTIC, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES, 98(D10), 1993, pp. 18441-18447
Temporal variations of the aerosol optical depth of the Antarctic trop
osphere and stratosphere are considered on the basis of long-term Sun
photometer and actinometer measurements which have been made at Mirny
and Georg Forster stations since 1956 and 1988, respectively. This dat
a is supplemented by measurements of the stratospheric aerosol optical
depth by the satellite-borne stratospheric aerosol measurement II ins
trument. These observations indicate that under undisturbed conditions
, the stratospheric aerosol optical depth represents approximately 25%
of the total atmospheric aerosol optical depth. The aerosol optical d
epth in the Antarctic is most notably affected by volcanic eruptions,
such as El Chichon in 1982 and Mount Pinatubo and Cerro Hudson in 1991
, and by the occurrence of polar stratospheric clouds during Antarctic
winter and spring. Apart from these episodic events, no long-term tre
nd an the aerosol optical depth can he discerned from the nearly 40-ye
ar record.