On the relationship between stratospheric aerosols and nitrogen dioxide

Observations of the stratospheric NO 2 column amount over the Colorado mountains during January, February, and March, 1992 are compared to concurrent lidar measurements. During this period, large aerosol amounts due to the volcanic material injected into the stratosphere by Mt. Pinatubo were observed over Colorado. The observed NO 2 column displays a strong anti‐correlation with increasing amounts of stratospheric aerosol near 25–30 km for relatively low aerosol loadings. At higher aerosol loadings, the NO 2 response appears to saturate, displaying little further reduction. The reasons for the altitude dependence of this relationship are probed with a one‐dimensional stratospheric model, and it is shown that such a saturation response is to be expected for conditions where the heterogeneous reaction between N 2 O 5 and H 2 O dominates the NO x chemistry, as in Prather [1992]. The results therefore provide evidence that heterogeneous reactions influence the chemical composition of the mid‐latitude stratosphere, and in the general manner predicted by theory.