Toward a better quantitative understanding of polar stratospheric ozone loss

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Frieler, K., Rex, M., Salawitch, R.J., Canty, T., Streibel, M., Stimpfle, R.M., Pfeilsticker, K., Dorf, M., Weisenstein, D.K., Godin-Beekmann, Sophie
• Other Authors: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Department of Chemistry Cambridge, UK, University of Cambridge UK (CAM), Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Harvard, Harvard University Cambridge, Institut für Umweltphysik Heidelberg, Universität Heidelberg Heidelberg, Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. (AER), 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)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2006
• Subjects: [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; Arctic
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00083562; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00083562/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00083562/file/2005GL025466.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL025466

Previous studies have shown that observed large O3 loss rates in cold Arctic Januaries cannot be explained with current understanding of the loss processes, recommended reaction kinetics, and standard assumptions about total stratospheric chlorine and bromine. Studies based on data collected during recent field campaigns suggest faster rates of photolysis and thermal decomposition of ClOOCl and higher stratospheric bromine concentrations than previously assumed. We show that a model accounting for these kinetic changes and higher levels of BrO can largely resolve the January Arctic O3 loss problem and closely reproduces observed Arctic O3 loss while being consistent with observed levels of ClO and ClOOCl. The model also suggests that bromine catalysed O3 loss is more important relative to chlorine catalysed loss than previously thought.