Stratospheric aerosol measurements from the Halogen Occultation Experiment
(HALOE), the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas experiment (SAGE)
II, and the
University of Wyoming balloonborne optical particle counters (OPCs)
were compared
over the duration of each mission. The OPC record over Laramie
Wyoming (41N)
covers from 1983 to present and the comparisons were focused on these
measurements.
The OPCs measure aerosol size distributions and HALOE multi-wavelength
(2.45
to 5.26 microns) extinction measurements have been used to retrieve
aerosol size
distributions. Aerosol surface areas and extinctions at the SAGE
II wavelengths
(0.385 to 1.02 microns) were computed from these size distributions
and compared
to the SAGE II measurements. This work presents a new climatology
of aerosol
size distribution derived from the HALOE measurements. This climatology
was
compared to the OPC size distribution measurements over Laramie.
The overall
impression from this work is encouraging as the three data sets are
typically
within 50% of each other, however, agreement can change
with latitude, altitude,
time, and parameter.