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https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL105889

*Authors*
Sando Vattioni, Beiping Luo, Aryeh Feinberg, Andrea Stenke, Christof
Vockenhuber, Rahel Weber, John A. Dykema, Ulrich K. Krieger, Markus Ammann,
Frank Keutsch, Thomas Peter, Gabriel Chiodo

*First published: 23 December 2023*

https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105889

*Abstract*
Compared to stratospheric SO2 injection for climate intervention, alumina
particle injection could reduce stratospheric warming and associated
adverse impacts. However, heterogeneous chemistry on alumina particles,
especially chlorine activation via , is poorly constrained under
stratospheric conditions, such as low temperature and humidity. This study
quantifies the uncertainty in modeling the ozone response to alumina
injection. We show that extrapolating the limited experimental data for
ClONO2 + HCl to stratospheric conditions leads to uncertainties in
heterogeneous reaction rates of almost two orders of magnitude.
Implementation of injection of 5 Mt/yr of particles with 240 nm radius in
an aerosol-chemistry-climate model shows that resulting global total ozone
depletions range between negligible and as large as 9%, that is more than
twice the loss caused by chlorofluorocarbons, depending on assumptions on
the degree of dissociation and interaction of the acids HCl, HNO3, and
H2SO4 on the alumina surface.

*Key Points*
Heterogeneous chemistry on solid alumina particles is highly uncertain and
depends strongly on the partitioning of acids onto the surface

The reaction rate of ClONO2 with HCl on alumina particles is uncertain by
up to two orders of magnitude under stratospheric conditions

Injection of 5 Mt/yr of alumina particles could double global ozone
reductions compared to chlorofluorocarbons in the late 1990s

*Plain Language Summary*
Global warming caused by increasing greenhouse gases could be temporarily
reduced by introducing aerosol particles into the stratosphere. The most
frequently studied approach to climate intervention uses H2SO4-H2O
aerosols, which, however, could result in undesirably strong warming of the
stratosphere and significant ozone depletion. This might be improved by
injecting solid particles, for example, made of aluminum oxide. However,
here we show that the extremely limited availability of experimental
studies on heterogeneous chemistry on alumina under the influence of
stratospheric concentrations of HCl, HNO3, H2SO4, and H2O leads to large
uncertainties in the impact of alumina injection on stratospheric ozone. In
order to quantify these uncertainties, we integrated the currently
available knowledge about the most important heterogeneous reaction  into
an aerosol-chemistry-climate model. We conclude that the uncertainty in the
resulting heterogeneous reaction rate is more than two orders of magnitude
depending on the partitioning of HCl, H2SO4, and HNO3 on the alumina
surface. This could lead to global ozone column depletion ranging between
almost negligible and up to 9%, which would be more than twice as much as
the ozone loss caused by chlorofluorocarbons in the late 1990s.

*Source: AGU*

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