Analysis of polar stratospheric clouds using temperature and aerosols measured by the Alomar R/M/R lidar

In this work we analyze and interpret stratospheric temperature and polar s tratospheric cloud measurements made with the ALOMAR Rayleigh Mie Raman (R/ M/R) lidar located at Andoya (69 degreesN 16 degreesE) in northern Norway. The ALOMAR R/M/R lidar is in operation since July 1994. Vertical profiles o f polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) are measured at three different wavelen gths and used to classify PSC types. Vertical temperature profiles of the s tratosphere are also obtained with the lidar by using the rotational Raman technique. The backscatter ratios at three different wavelengths and the An gstrom coefficients derived from backscatter ratio are used to study the de pendence of the PSC aerosol properties on the measured air temperature. We observed PSCs during the cold winters 1994/1995, 1995/1996, and 1996/1997. The clouds are classified in three types, Ia, Ib, and II. The temperature a t which type Ib PSCs appear fits well with Supercooled Ternary Solution (ST S) theory, while the type la PSCs are often measured at temperatures above T-NAT. Trajectory analysis indicates that the type la and type lb PSCs are characterized by different thermal histories. The last part of the paper is devoted to the interpretation of the results that are not in full agreemen t with the current theories of the formation of PSCs. In fact, it is found that a subtype of PSC, characterized by different values of optical paramet ers is measured inside clouds composite of different PSCs types. Moreover, it is observed that for a large fraction of the type la PSC observations th e prevailing air temperature is above the thermodynamic equilibrium tempera ture for NAT PSCs.