Chlorine Nitrate over the Arctic from CLAES (2/12/93 - 3/16/93)
Visualizations by
Jesse Allen
Released on April 9, 1999
Key to understanding the chlorine chemistry in the polar stratosphere is the measurement of polar stratospheric clouds, chlorine monoxide, and the reservoir gas chlorine nitrate. Chlorine nitrate has been measured by the Cryogen Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer, CLAES. CLAES makes measurements by looking at infrared emission from cloud particles and trace gases. CLAES measurements help to show that the polar stratospheric clouds which form in the cold Arctic stratosphere have converted most of the chlorine nitrate into the radical chlorine monoxide. In 1992, UARS measurements showed conclusively that an an Arctic ozone hole is beginning to form.
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation:
Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0