Determining the polar cosmic ray effect on cloud microphysics and the Earth's ozone layer

• Main Author: Radons Beckie, Charlene
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Calgary 2012
• Subjects: Antarctic; Arctic; Greenland; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Thule
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/prism/5010; https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/106011

Bibliography: p. 121-127 : Some pages are in colour. : Earth's changing climate is an important topic where atmospheric ozone plays a critical role. Ozone has a direct influence on the amount and type of solar radiation received by the Earth. This study addresses how cosmic rays may influence the ozone layer by ionizing Earth's atmosphere and enhancing the growth of cloud condensation nuclei and rate of chemical reactions on polar ice cloud surfaces. This theory was largely based on the lifetime work by Lu [2010]. The region of interest was centered over the Thule, Greenland neutron monitor station. Using cosmic ray, satellite-based ISCCP and ICARE project cloud data along with TOMS­OMI-SBUV and TEMIS total column ozone data, data comparisons were done. Plots of cosmic rays versus Antarctic atmospheric ozone from Lu [2009] were reproduced using regional Arctic data and extended to include years from 1983 to 2011. Comparisons to the research by Harris et al. [2010] were made by substituting ice cloud optical thickness for the cloud parameter and seasonal total column ozone for winter stratospheric ozone loss. The results of these data evaluations showed that the regional Arctic view matched very closely to Lu's work from the Antarctic. The ozone 3-point moving average case demonstrated a statistically significant correlation of -0.508. Extending the data duration exposed a cosmic ray data peak that was 14 percent larger than the two previous 11-year cycles. Ice cloud tau / ozone data comparisons did not produce the strong correlations from Harris et al. [2010]. Five years of low stratospheric temperatures and increased volumes of polar stratospheric clouds, identified by Rex et al. [2006], matched significant years of total column ozone minimums. Polar atmospheric CO2 trended along with ice cloud tau and oppositely to total column ozone, suggesting that lower stratospheric temperatures are instrumental in ozone reduction. Future work would involve using more extensive datasets, focusing on parameters such as ice water content and effective radius, or altitude specific studies concerning the stratosphere. Continued results from laboratory studies at the CERN facility may lead to a deeper understanding of cosmic ray, cloud microphysics and ozone relationships in nature.