Nucleation modeling of the Antarctic stratospheric CN layer and derivation of sulfuric acid profiles

Münch, Steffen; Curtius, Joachim

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7581-2017

Articles | Volume 17, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7581-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7581-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 17, issue 12

Research article

|

22 Jun 2017

Research article |

| 22 Jun 2017

Nucleation modeling of the Antarctic stratospheric CN layer and derivation of sulfuric acid profiles

Steffen Münch and Joachim Curtius

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Final revised paper (published on 22 Jun 2017)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 07 Jul 2016)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'Review For ACP-2016-583: Derivation of Antarctic stratospheric sulfuric acid profiles and nucleation modeling of the polar stratospheric CN layer', Anonymous Referee #1, 11 Aug 2016
- AC1: 'Replies to Anonymous Referee #1', Steffen Münch, 14 Dec 2016
RC2: 'anonymous review', Anonymous Referee #2, 29 Aug 2016
- AC2: 'Replies to Anonymous Referee #2', Steffen Münch, 14 Dec 2016

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

AR by Steffen Münch on behalf of the Authors (15 Dec 2016) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (19 Dec 2016) by Holger Tost

RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (09 Jan 2017)

RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (14 Jan 2017)

Suggestions for revision or reasons for rejection

This paper has improved considerably and now represents a useful contribution to the literature, and to what can be derived from condensation nuclei measurements. There are just a few minor points the authors should attend to in preparing their final copy.

2.34-35. What was preformed 2-3 times a year during winter? Please rewrite to clarify.

4.30. … as initial particle concentrations at the beginning …

5.25-30. Concerning the initial CN concentrations chosen at the beginning of each month, a few more words would help. I presume these choices are represented by the altitude regions at the beginning of each month in Fig. 2a where each trajectory begins. Thus in July all trajectories begin so this matches the observations perfectly. In August, only trajectories above about 28 km begin in that month. All lower trajectories began in July. Similarly for September, the three trajectories begun that month are indicated as those beginning above about 29 km. This correspondence could be indicated to the reader here.

Fig 2b). It might also be worth pointing out here that the subsidence and air compression leads to increased CN concentrations throughout the profile below the CN peak concentration which began at 30 km in July. It is also worth noting that the region of CN nucleation appears to be tied to the layer in July with the initial peak in CN concentration, as that layer subsides over winter.

7.19-21. This long sentence is difficult to follow, and the writing rather awkward. Rewrite using several shorter sentences to convey the idea.

7.22-23. This should be more cleanly written. Suggest. To study the uncertainty introduced by assumptions concerning the particle size threshold for CN measurement, we derive sulfuric acid profiles that result if the CN size threshold is assumed to be 6 nm diameter, which is the CN counter’s lower end according to Campbell and Deshler (2014).

7.26. “This effect …” Do the authors mean, The impact of CN threshold size …

9.1. … such data do not exist …

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ED: Reconsider after minor revisions (Editor review) (16 Jan 2017) by Holger Tost

AR by Steffen Münch on behalf of the Authors (02 May 2017) Author's response

ED: Publish as is (04 May 2017) by Holger Tost

AR by Steffen Münch on behalf of the Authors (10 May 2017)

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Short summary

Recent research has analyzed the formation of a particle (CN) layer in the stratosphere above Antarctica after sunrise. We investigate the CN layer formation processes with our particle formation model and derive sulfuric acid profiles (no measurements exist). Our study confirms existing explanations and gives more insights into the formation process, leading to higher derived concentrations. Therefore, this paper improves our understanding of the processes in the high atmosphere.