Abstract :
[en] The major sources of fluorine in the stratosphere are CFC-11 and CFC-12. Photolysis of these compounds leads to release of chlorine atoms, while the fluorine is, in a first step, present in the form of carbonyl compounds like COClF and COF2. Their further photolysis liberates fluorine atoms, which are quickly converted to HF. Given its long life time, COF2 is the second stratospheric fluorine reservoir.
The first COF2 vertical distributions were derived from occultation measurements performed by the ATMOS instrument during the SPACELAB-3 Space Shuttle mission in 1985. The Canadian FTIR spectrometer ACE-FTS, onboard the SCISAT-1 satellite, is the first instrument since the last ATMOS flight in 1994, to record COF2 vertical profiles from space. All these observations show that, at mean latitudes, COF2 concentration is maximum between 30 and 35 km.
Several COF2 IR absorption lines located either in the so-called InSb (1-5 µm) and MCT (2-16 µm) spectral ranges can be used to determine its total column from ground-based FTIR observations. In this context, several studies concerning the evolution of COF2 total column above various stations were published during the nineties.
At this time, no study concerning the inversion of COF2 vertical distributions from ground-based FTIR spectra has been published. This report deals with the feasibility of such inversions, using, simultaneously, via the SFIT-2 v3.91 algorithm, a multi-microwindows and a multi-spectra fitting procedure. The multi-spectra method consists of combining several FTIR observations, recorded during the same day, to increase the information content. A selection of microwindows in InSb and MCT ranges, a complete discussion about the data characterization (e.g. information content) and typical examples of COF2 retrieved profiles from high resolution solar spectra recorded with the University of Liège Jungfraujoch FTS will be revealed.
