Evaluation of excess carbon 14 and strontium 90 data for suitability to test two‐dimensional stratospheric models

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
From reports by the Atomic Energy Commission concerning the atmospheric distribution of radionucleides following the nuclear bomb tests of 1958–1959 and 1961–1962, excess carbon 14 data from the period 1959–1970 and strontium 90 data from 1963–1967 are reviewed for possible use as inert tracers to test two‐dimensional stratospheric‐tropospheric models. Contrary to some views expressed in the literature, it is concluded that the carbon 14 data are suitable to test (1) the altitude (at 4 latitudes) of the transition region between troposphere and stratosphere with respect to transport of an inert tracer, (2) some aspects of transport between the northern and southern hemispheres, (3) horizontal and vertical transport as the vertical profile between 4.5 and 33 km and at 31°N evolves from a skewed Gaussian in 1963 to an almost stair‐step profile in 1966, and (4) the long‐term one‐dimensional aspect of a two‐dimensional model over the period 1966–1970. More tentatively, it is concluded that the strontium 90 data may be used as a model for the distribution and gross settling rate of the natural stratospheric aerosol layer between 15 and 25 km. Data from difficultly obtained laboratory reports and suggested initial conditions and boundary conditions are included as a microfiche supplement to this paper.

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: