References

ACP

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

ACP

1680-7324

Copernicus GmbH

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/acp-8-7325-2008

Contribution of very short-lived organic substances to stratospheric chlorine and bromine in the tropics – a case study

Laube

J. C.

¹ ² Engel

¹ Bönisch

¹ Möbius

¹ Worton

D. R.

² ⁴ Sturges

W. T.

² Grunow

³ Schmidt

Institute for Atmosphere and Environment, University of Frankfurt, Germany

School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK

Institute for Meteorology, Free University of Berlin, Germany

now at: Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, USA

11 12 2008

8 23 7325 7334

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.

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The total stratospheric organic chlorine and bromine burden was derived from balloon-borne measurements in the tropics (Teresina, Brazil, 5°04´ S, 42°52´ W) in 2005. Whole air samples were collected cryogenically at altitudes between 15 and 34 km. For the first time, we report measurements of a set of 28 chlorinated and brominated substances in the tropical upper troposphere and stratosphere including ten substances with an atmospheric lifetime of less than half a year. The substances were quantified using pre-concentration techniques followed by Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometric detection. In the tropical tropopause layer at altitudes between 15 and 17 km we found 1.1–1.4% of the chlorine and 6–8% of the bromine to be present in the form of very short-lived organic compounds. By combining the data with tropospheric reference data and age of air observations the abundances of inorganic chlorine and bromine (Cly and Bry) were derived. At an altitude of 34 km we calculated 3062 ppt of Cly and 17.5 ppt of Bry from the decomposition of both long- and short-lived organic source gases. Furthermore we present indications for the presence of additional organic brominated substances in the tropical upper troposphere and stratosphere.

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