Chemistry and transport in a three-dimensional stratospheric model - Chlorine species during a simulated stratospheric warming

The distributions in the stratosphere of a variety of chemical species were calculated for a 6-day period during the February 1979 stratospheric major warming, using winds derived from a spectral forecast model which included O(x), NO(x), HO(x), and ClO(x) chemistries as well as longitudinally varying reaction rate coefficients and photolysis rates for these molecules. The results obtained indicate a particular importance of chemistry and transport for the Cl-containing species ClO, ClONO2, HCl, and HOCl. Dynamical effects dominate the variability of HCl, while diurnal effects dominate that of ClONO2 and ClO. The effects of strong planetary wave activity may be seen in terms of large longitudinal variability of the total HCl and ClONO columns in the stratosphere; in the middle and high northern latitudes, it is sufficiently large to exceed the diurnal variability of the column.