Recent measurements of trace constituents from rocket and balloon probes

During the past few years several field campaigns each employing a number of different experiments and of different experimental techniques have given new insights into the behaviour of trace constituent distributions in the middle atmosphere. Results from the MAP/WINE and from the Energy Budget Campaings are presented and compared with results previously obtained.The measured trace gas distributions are often very structured in time and/or space. These variations cannot be understood if photochemical equilibrium conditions are assumed. It is therefore concluded that dynamical processes are of major importance to the trace constituent distributions even at altitudes where gases are believed to be in photochemical equilibrium.