Stratospheric Acrosols

Their Anthoropogenic Alterations

Abstract

The stratosphere holds a variety of particulate matter, such as sulfate aerosols, polar stratospheric clouds, volcanic aerosols and meteoric dust. These aerosols play a significant role in ozone depletion in the stratosphere through heterogeneous chemistry. The properties of these aerosols, including composition, size distribution, chemical reactions, and the effect of climate are surveyed, the sulfate aerosol layer can reflect solar radiation and increase the planetary albedo, therefore, cooling the surface and altering the climate. Then, the effects of anthoropogenic alteration of stratospheric aerosols on the climate are discussed. The stratospheric sulfate aerosols are produced by the oxidation of OCS vapor. Last of this paper deals with OCS distributions, absorption cross sections and photodissociation rates. It is shown that OCS absorption above 285 nm are not found under the stratospheric conditions and OCS concentration was found to be about 280 pptv from the ground to 30 km altitude. These results are not consistent with the prediction made from the sulfur-reaction cycle model by Turco et al.