Match observations in the Arctic winter 1996/97: High stratospheric ozone loss rates correlate with low temperatures deep inside the polar vortex

A. Schulz (1) , M. Rex (1) , J. Steger (1) , N. R. P. Harris (2) , G. Braathen (3) , E. Reimer (4) , R. Alfier (4) , A. Beck (4) , M. Alpers (5) , J. Cisneros (6) , H. Claude (7) , H. de Backer (8) , H. Dier (9) , V. Dorokhov (10) , Hans Fast (11) , Sophie Godin (12) , G. Hansen (3) , H. Kanzawa (13) , Bogumil Kois (14) , Y. Kondo (15) , E. Kosmidis (16) , E. Kyrö (17) , Z. Litynska (14) , M. J. Molyneux (18) , G. Murphy (19) , H. Nakane (13) , C. Parrondo (20) , F. Ravegnani (21) , C. Varotsos (22) , C. Vialle (12) , P. Viatte (23) , V. Yushkov (10) , C. Zerefos (24) , Peter von Der Gathen (1)

1 AWI - Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
2 EORCU - European Ozone Research Coordinating Unit [Cambridge]
3 NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research
4 Institut für Meteorologie [Berlin]
5 IAP - Leibniz-Institut für Atmosphärenphysik
6 INM - Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia [Madrid]
7 MOHp - Meteorologisches Observatorium Hohenpeißenberg
8 IRM - Institut Royal Météorologique de Belgique [Bruxelles] - Royal Meteorological Institute
9 MOL-RAO - Lindenberg Meteorological Observatory - Richard Assmann Observatory
10 CAO - Central Aerological Observatory
11 Environment and Climate Change Canada
12 SA - Service d'aéronomie
13 NIES - National Institute for Environmental Studies
14 IMGW - PIB - Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute
15 Nagoya University
16 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
17 FMI - Finnish Meteorological Institute
18 United Kingdom Met Office [Exeter]
19 MET ÉIREANN - Irish Meteorological Service
20 INTA - Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial
21 CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Bologna]
22 Academy of Athens
23 Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss
24 Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics [Thessaloniki]

With the Match technique, which is based on the coordinated release of ozonesondes, chemical ozone loss rates in the Arctic stratospheric vortex in early 1997 have been quantified in a vertical region between 400 K and 550 K. Ozone destruction was observed from mid February to mid March in most of these levels, with maximum loss rates between 25 and 45 ppbv/day. The vortex averaged loss rates and the accumulated vertically integrated ozone loss have been smaller than in the previous two winters, indicating that the record low ozone columns observed in spring 1997 were partly caused by dynamical effects. The observed ozone loss is inhomogeneous through the vortex with the highest loss rates located in the vortex centre, coinciding with the lowest temperatures. Here the loss rates per sunlit hour reached 6 ppbv/h, while the corresponding vortex averaged rates did not exceed 3.9 ppbv/h.

Domains: Physics [physics]; Physics [physics]; Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Earth Sciences; Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]

A. Schulz, M. Rex, J. Steger, N. R. P. Harris, G. Braathen, et al.. Match observations in the Arctic winter 1996/97: High stratospheric ozone loss rates correlate with low temperatures deep inside the polar vortex. Geophysical Research Letters, 2000, 27 (2), pp.205-208. ⟨10.1029/1999GL010811⟩. ⟨insu-01633514⟩