Kuwait oil fires: correction.
In our article "Airborne studies of the smoke from the Kuwait oil fires" (15 May, p. 987) (1), we stated that the depletions of sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) and nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) in the smoke plume from the Kuwait oil fires were 50 and 60% per hour, respectively. These values were derived from measurements made aboard a Convair C-131 aircraft, and measurements of CO(2) were used as a conserved tracer. Subsequent comparisons of these measurements of CO(2) (which were obtained from a continuous analyzer) with independent measurements of CO(2) (obtained from "grab" samples) revealed that the continuous CO(2) measurements were occasionally contaminated by cabin air. Recalculation of the depletion rates of SO(2) and NO(x), with the use of uncontaminated measurements of CO(2) from the "grab" sampler aboard the aircraft yielded values of 6 and 22%, respectively (2). Our conclusions with regard to the climatic effects of the Kuwait oil fires are unchanged.
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