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Nassar et al. 2005
Nassar, R., Bernath, P.F., Boone, C.D., Manney, G.L., McLeod, S.D., Rinsland, C.P., Skelton, R. and Walker, K.A. (2005). Stratospheric abundances of water and methane based on ACE-FTS measurements. Geophysical Research Letters 32: doi: 10.1029/2005GL022383. issn: 0094-8276.

We present solar occultation measurements of H2O and CH4 by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS). The data used here were selected from occultations spanning February to April 2004 from 0 to 79.8¿N. The midlatitude volume mixing ratio (VMR) of potential water is determined as 2O> + 24> and from 2O> versus 4> correlations, then used to calculate the VMR of water vapor entering the stratosphere. We obtain 7.14 ¿ 0.23 ppm for potential water and 3.65 ¿ 0.29 ppm for water entering the stratosphere in 2004 for direct comparison with Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) data (1985--1994). We find a very small change in potential water and no change in water entering the stratosphere relative to the 1994 ATMOS data, indicating that increases observed by ATMOS and other instruments from that time period have not continued. This halt in stratospheric water vapor increases is consistent with recent water vapor measurements by other instruments.

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Abstract

Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Constituent sources and sinks, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Middle atmosphere, constituent transport and chemistry, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Instruments and techniques, Global Change, Remote sensing
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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