A hole in the Arctic polar ozone layer during March 1986

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Physics
• Main Author: Evans, W. F. J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1989
• Subjects: General Physics and Astronomy; Arctic; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Canada; Lindenberg; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/p89-027; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/p89-027

A craterlike structure or "hole" in the Arctic polar ozone layer during March 1986 has been observed in the total ozone images from the total ozone mapping spectrometer instrument on the NIMBUS 7 satellite. Observations from ozonesondes in the vicinity of this crater show a depleted region in the altitude profile from 10 to 16 km. This altitude region of depleted ozone is similar to the depleted layer observed from 12 to 18 km within the Antarctic ozone hole. A comparison has been made between the ozone altitude profile outside the crater at Resolute, N.W.T., Canada (75°N), and the ozone altitude profile inside the crater at Lindenberg, German Democratic Republic, (55°N). The difference in these profiles demonstrates that the crater is due to a process that has altered the altitude distribution of ozone in the 10–16 km region. This depletion could be attributed to either a vertical circulation or a chemical-depletion process.