Aircraft measurements and model simulations of stratospheric ozone and N2O: implications for chemistry and transport processes in the models

Airborne measurements of stratospheric ozone and N2O from the SCIAMACHY (Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer) Validation and Utilization Experiment (SCIA-VALUE) are presented. The campaign was conducted in September 2002 and February–March 2003. The Airborne Submillimeter Radiometer (ASUR) observed stratospheric constituents like O3 and N2O, among others, spanning a latitude from 5°S to 80°N during the survey. The tropical ozone source regions show high ozone volume mixing ratios (VMRs) of around 11 ppmv at 33 km altitude, and the altitude of the maximum VMR increases from the tropics to the Arctic. The N2O VMRs show the largest value of 325 ppbv in the lower stratosphere, indicating their tropospheric origin, and they decrease with increasing altitude and latitude due to photolysis. The sub-tropical and polar mixing barriers are well represented in the N2O measurements. The most striking seasonal difference found in the measurements is the large polar descent in February–March. The observed features are interpreted with the help of SLIMCAT and Bremen Chemical Transport Model (CTMB) simulations. The SLIMCAT simulations are in good agreement with the measured O3 and N2O values, where the differences are within 1 ppmv for O3 and 15 ppbv for N2O. However, the CTMB simulations underestimate the tropical middle stratospheric O3 (1–1.5 ppmv) and the tropical lower stratospheric N2O (15–30 ppbv) measurements. A detailed analysis with various measurements and model simulations suggests that the biases in the CTMB simulations are related to its parameterised chemistry schemes.