An Overview of the Second SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE-II)

The SOLVE II Field mission was a field campaign designed to investigate polar ozone loss, polar stratospheric clouds, processes that lead to ozone loss, the dynamics of the polar stratosphere, and to acquire correlative data needed to validate satellite measurements of the polar stratosphere. The campaign was closely coordinated with VINTERSOL-EUPLEX campaigns. This combined international campaign was staged over the course of the winter of 2002-2003. SOLVE-II measurements were made from the NASA DC-8 aircraft, ozonesondes and other balloon payloads, ground-based instruments, and satellites. In particular SOLVE-II was designed to validate the Meteor-3M/Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III satellite mission. We will review the overall objectives of the combined campaigns, discuss some of the broad observations of the winter of 2002-2003, and highlight the major findings of this campaign.