Ground-based millimeter-wave observation of stratospheric ClO over Atacama, Chile in the midlatitude Southern Hemisphere

Abstract

Abstract. We have performed ground-based measurements of stratospheric chlorine monoxide (ClO) during the summer in 2009 over the Atacama highland, Chile, a new observing site in the mid-latitude region in the Southern Hemisphere by using a millimeter-wave spectroscopic radiometer. The radiometer equipped with a superconducting receiver and a digital Fourier spectrometer is developed by Nagoya University, and the new system provides us high sensitivity and stable performance to measure the very weak ClO lines. The receiver noise temperature of the superconducting receiver is 170 K in DSB. To reveal the diurnal variation of ClO, we retrieved the vertical mixing ratio profiles by the weighted-damped least squares algorithm applied for the spectral data at 203 GHz obtained between 5 and 16 December 2009. The total error on the retrieval is estimated to be 20% to 30% in an altitude range from 40 to 50 km. The amplitude of the diurnal variation is ±33, ±33, and ±36% at 40, 45, and 50 km, respectively. The time variation curve is basically similar to the previous diurnal variation observed in the northern mid-latitude region but there is a tendency that the increasing rate after the sunrise becomes smaller as the altitude increases.