EUPLEX: European polar stratospheric clouds and lee wave experiment

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 01.0174-2

Key words (English)

Environmental Protection; Forecasting; Meteorology; Resources of the Sea; Fisheries

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: EVK2-2001-00119

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.4a.2 Global change, climate and biodiversity

Short description (English)

See abstract

Abstract (English)

EUPLEX will critically test current hypotheses for the three key processes of arctic stratospheric ozone depletion chemistry:
1. PSC formation and properties in Lee-wave and synoptic scale PSC;
2. Halogen activation on PSC, and;
3. Chemical ozone loss.

Optimum chemica1 and microphysical information will be measured on dedicated flights of a suitably instrumented high-altitude research aircraft employing two new flight strategies:
1. Quasi-Lagrangian flights through Lee-wave PSC;
2. Multiple flights probing the same air masses twice within time periods of several days.

Comparison of these first-time observations and state of the art microphysical and chemical models will yield improved or new parameterisations or corroborate established concepts that are a prerequisite for numerical simulations ta predict the future state of the azone layer.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 01.0174-2