Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Dynamics, aerosols and bromine in the summer polar stratosphere  (StraPo1Ete)

Outline
The polar stratosphere in the summertime remains largely unexplored. Dynamical conditions are characterized by large scale transport and mixing between air masses of higher and lower latitude origins. Understanding these exchanges is crucial since they have a large impact on the distribution of trace gases and aerosols at polar latitudes, and thus on the stratospheric ozone budget. Ozone change affects the radiative balance, and therefore the climate. A stratospheric balloon campaign is planned for sounding the Arctic stratosphere in the summertime for which a dynamical transition regime is expected and is going towards the conditions settling the winter stratosphere. UV-visible and infrared, remote and in situ sensing embarked spectrometers will provide information on vertical distributions and columns of more than fifteen chemical tracers and reactive species. A number of in situ optical aerosol counters, a UV-visible remote spectrometer for the aerosol extinction and a photopolarimeter will provide information on the nature and size distribution of the stratospheric aerosols. Satellite data (ENVISAT, ACE, IASI), providing adequate spatial coverage, chemistry-transport models (CTM) will complement the balloon observations. The main objectives of the StraPolEté project are: - Study of the transport processes governing the polar stratosphere during summer; in situ observations at high vertical resolution (a few meters) will allow the determination of the possible presence of intact vortex air masses. - Determination of the budget of stratospheric liquid and solid aerosols; particular emphasis will be put on the soot aerosol content present at these latitudes and likely to be enhanced by boreal forest fire events. - Determination of the stratospheric bromine budget through observations of BrO with different instruments and its impact on ozone loss in the lower stratosphere; contribution to the stratospheric total bromine trend. - State of the nitrogen and chlorine budget in summer representing the initial conditions before the winter polar stratosphere.- Improvement of the ability of the chemistry-transport models to simulate tracers, and subsequently chemistry of nitrogen species in the large-scale dynamical environment. - Assessment of the accuracy of the species vertical profiles retrieved from remote-sensing instruments in case of air mass inhomogeneities along their lines of sight.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Polar stratosphere dynamics and chemistry play a key role in controlling the ozone budget, which in turn affects the Earth climate. Transport processes of chemical compounds and aerosols from low latitude regions to polar summer stratosphere will be characterized in detail. Of major interest is the contribution of boreal forest fires to the solid aerosol burden in the stratosphere. The current budget of the nitrogen and halogen trace gases and liquid aerosols will be established, specifically during summer since it represents the initial conditions before the winter polar stratosphere. The impact of these compounds on stratospheric ozone will be quantified.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The project includes research institutes from 4 different European countries (France, Germany, Norway, U.K.). Moreover it will be a component of the ORACLE-O3 IPY cluster project, bringing together 16 Expressions of Intents of about 70 research institutes from about 22 countries all around the world

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
The field activity will be located at Esrange Space Center (67°N, 21°E) in Sweden. This site has been regularly chosen for launching stratospheric balloons in order to study the polar ozone layer depletion within the frame of European Commission projects (EASOE, 1991-92; SESAME, 1995; THESEO, 1999; THESEO2000) and in order to validate satellite instruments (e.g. ENVISAT, 2003-2006).

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 08/09 - 08/09            
Antarctic: No            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
The logistic support already exists: the project requires the use of stratospheric balloons launched from the site of Esrange Space Center (Sweden) by CNES (French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) in cooperation with a team of the Swedish Space Corporation.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
No

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Own national polar operator
Another national polar operator
National agency

Further details – French CNES agency and Swedish Space Corporation cooperate for launching stratospheric balloons. The launch site of Esrange Space Center belongs to the Swedish Space Corporation.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
The project has been very positively evaluated by the French IPEV (Institute Paul-Emile Victor), leading to partial financial funding for year 2009. It is supported by the ORACLE-O3 IPY cluster project that it will join as an EoI.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Yes

This project is a new initiative involving in situ and remote balloon measurements during the Arctic summer, and will thus complement the ORACLE-O3 and SPARC-IPY cluster projects, essentially focused on the study of the polar stratosphere during winter, and mainly using ground and satellite data.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project has its own management performed by the coordinator laboratory, LPCE-France. It will also follow the management of the ORACLE-O3 IPY cluster project that involves a committee with members of each EoI proposing workshops and promoting collaborations between EoI. Finally joint publications and/or journal special issues are expected where appropriate.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Ph.-D students will be hired in at least 3 partner institutes within the frame of the project, and thus will receive training and lectures. They will also participate to meetings with the public. The outreaches will be disseminated through publications in international scientific journals and communications in international symposiums.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
All the balloon flight data will be accessible on-line to the international scientific community via the ETHER database, a centre for atmospheric chemistry products and services managed by CNES-CNRS-Météo France. Measurement and modelling results will be first released in ORACLE-O3 workshops, and then disseminated in publications in international open journals and in communications in international symposiums.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
The project will be funded via several French national agencies for which the proposal has been accepted (IPEV) or is currently under review (ANR, CNES).

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
No

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Valery Catoire
Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement (LPCE), CNRS - Universite d'Orleans (UMR 6115)
3A Avenue de la Recherche Scientifique
45071 Orleans cedex 2

FRANCE

Tel: +33 238 25 53 11
Mobile: no
Fax: +33 238 63 12 34
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation