Quantification of HCl from high resolution infrared solar spectra obtained at the South Pole in December 1986

Ground‐based infrared solar spectra at 0.02 cm −1 resolution obtained at the Amundsen‐Scott South Pole station in December 1986 have been analysed for the atmospheric content of HCl. Nonlinear least‐squares spectral fitting applied to the spectra yields a total HCl column amount of (6.4 ± 0.8) × 10 15 molec/cm², most being stratospheric. This amount is larger than that extrapolated from earlier results on the latitudinal distribution of atmospheric HCl.