An unrecognized mode of small particles in the lower stratosphere
Ming Lyu·C. A. Brock·Gregory P. Schill·Michael J. Lawler·Daniel Murphy·Samuel Taylor·Anthony Fodel·Maya Abou‐Ghanem·Colin Gurganus·Yunqian Zhu·Simone Tilmes·Eric Ray·Troy D. Thornberry·Ru-Shan Gao·Eric J. Hintsa·Fred Moore·Geoff Dutton·David Nance·Brad Hall·Andrew W. Rollins·Eleanor M. Waxman·Kristen Zuraski·Glenn S. Diskin·Yonghoon Choi·R. Bradley Pierce·Bernadett Weinzierl·Florian Kuderna·Maximilian Dollner·Eric Jensen·Adam T. Ahern
Analysis of recent in situ data reveals a persistent mode of organic-rich aerosol particles in the stratosphere below 19 kilometers at nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) > 270 parts per billion by volume, with a number geometric mean diameter of ~0.03 to 0.11 μm (0.08 to 0.2 μm in surface and 0.11 to 0.3 μm in volume). This mode, composed mostly of organic-rich particles transported from the troposphere, is poorly sensed by satellites and most balloon-borne optical measurements but dominates the sur