Aircraft measurements of oxides of nitrogen along the eastern rim of the Asian continent: Winter observations

Aircraft observations of oxides of nitrogen (NO _y ), measured with a ferrous sulfate converter, over the sea surrounding the Japanese islands (30–43° N, 131–141° E) were carried out in the winter of 1983 and 1984 at altitudes mostly between 3 and 8 km. NO _y defined here is the sum of NO, NO₂, and other unstable oxides of nitrogen that are converted to NO by ferrous sulfate. The main observations were:

1. Over the Pacific Ocean between the latitudes of 30–35° N, the observed NO _y mixing ratio between 3 and 8 km was a fairly constant 200 pptv. The NO mixing ratio increased with altitude from 15 pptv at 3 km to 35 pptv at 7 km.
2. Over the Sea of Japan, tropospheric NO _y mesured between 1 and 6 km started increasing with latitude North of 35° N and reached about 1000 pptv at 40° N.
3. NO _y was measured in an air mass transported from the stratosphere near a tropopause fold region. When the ozone mixing ratio was between 80 and 140 ppbv, the NO _y mixing ratio was about 200 pptv.