ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-5-1467-2005 Evidence for long-lived polar vortex air in the mid-latitude summer stratosphere from in situ laser diode CH<sub>4</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O measurements Durry G. 1 2 Hauchecorne A. 1 IPSL, Service d’Aéronomie, UMR 7620, BP 3, 91371 Verrières-le-Buisson Cédex, France GSMA, UMR 6089, Université de Reims, BP 1039, 51687 Reims, Cédex 2, Franceo 15 06 2005 5 6 1467 1472 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/5/1467/2005/acp-5-1467-2005.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/5/1467/2005/acp-5-1467-2005.pdf

A balloon borne diode laser spectrometer was launched in southern France in June 2000 to yield in situ stratospheric CH<sub>4</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O measurements. In the altitude region ranging from 20km to 25km, striking large spatial structures were observed in the vertical concentration profiles of both species. We suggest these patterns are due to the presence of long-lived remnants of the wintertime polar vortex in the mid-latitude summer stratosphere. To support this interpretation, a high resolution advection model for potential vorticity is used to investigate the evolution of the Arctic vortex after its breakdown phase in spring 2000.