Polar vortex evolution during the 2002 Antarctic major warming as observed by the Odin satellite

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research
• Main Authors: Ricaud, P., Lefèvre, Franck, Berthet, Gwenaël, Murtagh, D., Llewellyn, E.-J., Mégie, Gérard, Kyrölä, E., Leppelmeier, G.-W., Auvinen, H., Boonne, C., Brohede, S., Degenstein, D.-A., De La Noe, J., Dupuy, E., El Amraoui, L., Eriksson, P., Evans, W.-F.-J., Frisk, U., Gattinger, R.-L., Girod, F., Haley, C.-S., Hassinen, S., Hauchecorne, Alain, Jimenez, Chloé, Kyrö, E., Lautié, N., Le Flochmoën, E., Lloyd, N.-D., Mcconnell, J.-C., Mcdade, I.-C., Nordh, L., Olberg, M., Pazmino, Andrea, Petelina, S.-V., Sandqvist, A., Seppälä, A., Sioris, C.-E., Solheim, B.-H., Stegman, J., Strong, K., Taalas, P., Urban, Jakub, Von Savigny, C., Von Scheele, F., Witt, G.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux (L3AB), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux Pessac (LAB), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Service d'aéronomie (SA), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Radio and Space Science Göteborg, Chalmers University of Technology Göteborg, Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies Saskatoon (ISAS), Department of Physics and Engineering Physics Saskatoon, University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon (U of S)-University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon (U of S), Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Department of Physics and Astronomy Peterborough, Trent University, Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES), Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science Toronto (CRESS), York University Toronto, Laboratoire d'aérologie (LAERO), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Stockholm University, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), Smithsonian Institution-Harvard University Cambridge, Department of Meteorology Stockholm (MISU), Department of Physics Toronto, University of Toronto, Institute of Environmental Physics Bremen (IUP), University of Bremen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2005
• Subjects: [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; [SDU.ASTR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]; [PHYS.ASTR.CO]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00077970; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00077970/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00077970/file/Ricaud_et_al-2005-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Solid_Earth_%281978-2012%29.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD005018

In September 2002 the Antarctic polar vortex split in two under the influence of a sudden warming. During this event, the Odin satellite was able to measure both ozone (O3) and chlorine monoxide (ClO), a key constituent responsible for the so-called “ozone hole”, together with nitrous oxide (N2O), a dynamical tracer, and nitric acid (HNO3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), tracers of denitrification. The submillimeter radiometer (SMR) microwave instrument and the Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imager System (OSIRIS) UV-visible light spectrometer (VIS) and IR instrument on board Odin have sounded the polar vortex during three different periods: before (19–20 September), during (24–25 September), and after (1–2 and 4–5 October) the vortex split. Odin observations coupled with the Reactive Processes Ruling the Ozone Budget in the Stratosphere (REPROBUS) chemical transport model at and above 500 K isentropic surfaces (heights above 18 km) reveal that on 19–20 September the Antarctic vortex was dynamically stable and chemically nominal: denitrified, with a nearly complete chlorine activation, and a 70% O3 loss at 500 K. On 25–26 September the unusual morphology of the vortex is monitored by the N2O observations. The measured ClO decay is consistent with other observations performed in 2002 and in the past. The vortex split episode is followed by a nearly complete deactivation of the ClO radicals on 1–2 October, leading to the end of the chemical O3 loss, while HNO3 and NO2 fields start increasing. This acceleration of the chlorine deactivation results from the warming of the Antarctic vortex in 2002, putting an early end to the polar stratospheric cloud season. The model simulation suggests that the vortex elongation toward regions of strong solar irradiance also favored the rapid reformation of ClONO2. The observed dynamical and chemical evolution of the 2002 polar vortex is qualitatively well reproduced by REPROBUS. Quantitative differences are mainly attributable to the too weak amounts of HNO3 in the model, which do ...