Distribution of halon-1211 in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere and the 1994 total bromine budget

Abstract

We report here on the details of the first, in situ, real-time measurements of H-1211 (CBrClF2) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) mixing ratios in the stratosphere up to 20 km. Stratospheric air was analyzed for these gases and others with a new gas Chromatograph, flown aboard a National Aeronautics and Space Administration ER-2 aircraft as part of the Airborne Southern Hemisphere Ozone Experiment/Measurements for Assessing the Effects of Stratospheric Aircraft mission conducted in 1994. The mixing ratio of SF6, with its nearly linear increase in the troposphere, was used to estimate the mean age of stratospheric air parcels along the ER-2 flight path. Measurements of H-1211 and mean age estimates were then combined with simultaneous measurements of CFC-11 (CCI3F), measurements of brominated compounds in stratospheric whole air samples, and records of tropospheric organic bromine mixing ratios to calculate the dry mixing ratio of total bromine in the lower stratosphere and its partitioning between organic and inorganic forms. We estimate that the organic bromine-containing species were almost completely photolyzed to inorganic species in the oldest air parcels sampled. Our results for inorganic bromine are consistent with those obtained from a photochemical, steady state model for stratospheric air parcels with CFC-11 mixing ratios greater than 150 ppt. For stratospheric air parcels with CFC-11 mixing ratios less than 50 ppt (mean age ≥5 years) we calculate inorganic bromine mixing ratios that are approximately 20% less than the photochemical, steady state model. There is a 20% reduction in calculated ozone loss resulting from bromine chemistry in old air relative to some previous estimates as a result of the lower bromine levels. Copyright 1998 by the American Geophysical Union.