[en] The paper describes a hydrogen chloride detector designed to monitor concentrations of hydrogen chloride gas in the ambient environment. The detector was developed for NASA for use in launch vehicle effluent monitoring. The detector operates on chemiluminescence principles with a lower detection limit of less than 5 x 10^-3 ppm (by volume). The hydrogen chloride in the air sample reacts with a bromide--bromate coating in the inlet tube of the instrument producing bromine. Bromine is then quantitated by chemiluminescent oxidation of luminol. The visible light generated in the chemiluminescent reaction is proportional to the hydrogen chloride concentration of the sampled airstream. The detector's response to 90% of signal ranges from less than 1 s at 50 ppm to 10 s at 1 ppm. Below about 5 x 10^-2 ppm the response is somewhat slower, of the order of several minutes. Due to the lack of specificity, the detector is most suited to laboratory or field studies where hydrogen chloride is the dominant pollutant, as compared to the interfering species. Interferences include strong acids, acid-forming gases, and halogen gases. Of the interferences investigated the most serious in these groups are hydrochloric and sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide, and chlorine, respectively. The detector has been in use since 1974 and has been found to be highly portable, rugged, and stable under extreme environmental conditions ranging from aircraft and seacraft operations to desert operations at temperatures above 35 ⁰C

[en] Several field experiments have measured the regional effects of biomass burning. Two such experiments, designed to understand the chemistry of the Amazon rainforest during both the wet season and dry season, were conducted in the Amazon Basin. The first experiment, ABLE-2A (Amazon Boundary Layer Experiment), took place from July to August 1985, the early dry season, when biomass burning was just beginning. The second experiment, ABLE-2B, took place during the wet season, from April to May 1987, when little biomass burning was occurring. Comparing ABLE ozone data with tropospheric ozone concentrations derived from satellite data, using the method described by Fishman et al., shows a strong correlation between the direct measurements and the derived ozone concentrations, as well as a direct correlation of both to biomass burning. This comparison gives credence to the use of space-based platforms to monitor global chemistry and, in this case, the regional effects of biomass burning

[en] Tropospheric ozone measurements over Antarctica aboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft are summarized. As part of the August/September 1987 Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment, the aircraft flew 13 missions covering a latitude of 53 degree-90 degree S, at altitudes to 13 km. Ozone mixing ratios as high as several hundred parts per billion by volume (ppbv) were measured, but in all cases these ratios were observed in pockets or patches of upper atmospheric air. These pockets were observed both in the vicinity of and away from the location of the ozone hole. At times, and as a result of these pockets, the ozone levels at the flight altitude of the aircraft, as averaged beneath the boundaries of the stratospheric ozone hole, were 2-3 times higher than background tropospheric values. The data suggest that the ozone-rich air seldom penetrated below about 9-km altitude. Background ozone values in the surrounding troposphere were typically in the range of 20-50 ppbv. Correlation of tropospheric ozone observations with the boundaries of the ozone hole differed during the experiment. During the early flights (August 28 through September 2), encounters with ozone-rich air were limited and background tropospheric ozone (at the flight altitude) appeared to decrease beneath the hole. For many of the later flights, and as the hole deepened, the reverse was noted, in that ozone-rich air was frequently observed in the vicinity of the hole and, as noted earlier, average ozone at the flight altitude was frequently higher than background values

[en] Measurements of the abundances of ozone over Antarctic in August and September 1987 obtained during the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment are intercompared. These measurements of ozone concentrations and total column abundance were obtained by three satellite instruments, two IR and one UV column-measuring instruments aboard the DC-8, one in situ DC-8, and two in situ ER-2 instruments, an upward looking lidar aboard the DC-8, and ozonesondes from four sites in Antarctica. Given the natural variability of ozone in the Antarctic and the fact that the data were not truly coincident spatially and temporally, this intercomparison is suitable only for identifying gross disparities among the techniques, rather than confirming the accuracies as rigorously as is normally done in an intercomparison. This paper presents a summary of the ozone data, using the data and accuracies given by the individual investigators in the individual papers in this issue, without any attempt to critically review or evaluate the data. In general, very good agreement (within about 10-20%, limited by natural variability) among the various techniques was found, with no systematic biases detected. These observations confirm the low ozone amounts reported in the Antarctic stratosphere