Record low ozone values over the Arctic in boreal spring 2020
Ozone data derived from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensor on board the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite show exceptionally low total ozone columns in the polar region of the Northern Hemisphere (Arctic) in spring 2020. Minimum total ozone column values around or below 220 Dobson...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1d2177c8cfa44655a4627a91635299c6 2023-05-15T13:37:07+02:00 Record low ozone values over the Arctic in boreal spring 2020 M. Dameris D. G. Loyola M. Nützel M. Coldewey-Egbers C. Lerot F. Romahn M. van Roozendael 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-617-2021 https://doaj.org/article/1d2177c8cfa44655a4627a91635299c6 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/21/617/2021/acp-21-617-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-21-617-2021 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/1d2177c8cfa44655a4627a91635299c6 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 21, Pp 617-633 (2021) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-617-2021 2022-12-31T07:26:52Z Ozone data derived from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensor on board the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite show exceptionally low total ozone columns in the polar region of the Northern Hemisphere (Arctic) in spring 2020. Minimum total ozone column values around or below 220 Dobson units (DU) were seen over the Arctic for 5 weeks in March and early April 2020. Usually the persistence of such low total ozone column values in spring is only observed in the polar Southern Hemisphere (Antarctic) and not over the Arctic. These record low total ozone columns were caused by a particularly strong polar vortex in the stratosphere with a persistent cold stratosphere at higher latitudes, a prerequisite for ozone depletion through heterogeneous chemistry. Based on the ERA5, which is the fifth generation of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) atmospheric reanalysis, the Northern Hemisphere winter 2019/2020 (from December to March) showed minimum polar cap temperatures consistently below 195 K around 20 km altitude, which enabled enhanced formation of polar stratospheric clouds. The special situation in spring 2020 is compared and discussed in context with two other Northern Hemisphere spring seasons, namely those in 1997 and 2011, which also displayed relatively low total ozone column values. However, during these years, total ozone columns below 220 DU over several consecutive days were not observed in spring. The similarities and differences of the atmospheric conditions of these three events and possible explanations for the observed features are presented and discussed. It becomes apparent that the monthly mean of the minimum total ozone column value for March 2020 (221 DU) was clearly below the respective values found in March 1997 (267 DU) and 2011 (252 DU), which highlights the special evolution of the polar stratospheric ozone layer in the Northern Hemisphere in spring 2020. A comparison with a typical ozone hole over the Antarctic (e.g., in 2016) indicates that although ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic The Sentinel ENVELOPE(73.317,73.317,-52.983,-52.983) Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 21 2 617 633 |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 M. Dameris D. G. Loyola M. Nützel M. Coldewey-Egbers C. Lerot F. Romahn M. van Roozendael Record low ozone values over the Arctic in boreal spring 2020 |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
Ozone data derived from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensor on board the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite show exceptionally low total ozone columns in the polar region of the Northern Hemisphere (Arctic) in spring 2020. Minimum total ozone column values around or below 220 Dobson units (DU) were seen over the Arctic for 5 weeks in March and early April 2020. Usually the persistence of such low total ozone column values in spring is only observed in the polar Southern Hemisphere (Antarctic) and not over the Arctic. These record low total ozone columns were caused by a particularly strong polar vortex in the stratosphere with a persistent cold stratosphere at higher latitudes, a prerequisite for ozone depletion through heterogeneous chemistry. Based on the ERA5, which is the fifth generation of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) atmospheric reanalysis, the Northern Hemisphere winter 2019/2020 (from December to March) showed minimum polar cap temperatures consistently below 195 K around 20 km altitude, which enabled enhanced formation of polar stratospheric clouds. The special situation in spring 2020 is compared and discussed in context with two other Northern Hemisphere spring seasons, namely those in 1997 and 2011, which also displayed relatively low total ozone column values. However, during these years, total ozone columns below 220 DU over several consecutive days were not observed in spring. The similarities and differences of the atmospheric conditions of these three events and possible explanations for the observed features are presented and discussed. It becomes apparent that the monthly mean of the minimum total ozone column value for March 2020 (221 DU) was clearly below the respective values found in March 1997 (267 DU) and 2011 (252 DU), which highlights the special evolution of the polar stratospheric ozone layer in the Northern Hemisphere in spring 2020. A comparison with a typical ozone hole over the Antarctic (e.g., in 2016) indicates that although ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. Dameris D. G. Loyola M. Nützel M. Coldewey-Egbers C. Lerot F. Romahn M. van Roozendael |
author_facet |
M. Dameris D. G. Loyola M. Nützel M. Coldewey-Egbers C. Lerot F. Romahn M. van Roozendael |
author_sort |
M. Dameris |
title |
Record low ozone values over the Arctic in boreal spring 2020 |
title_short |
Record low ozone values over the Arctic in boreal spring 2020 |
title_full |
Record low ozone values over the Arctic in boreal spring 2020 |
title_fullStr |
Record low ozone values over the Arctic in boreal spring 2020 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Record low ozone values over the Arctic in boreal spring 2020 |
title_sort |
record low ozone values over the arctic in boreal spring 2020 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-617-2021 https://doaj.org/article/1d2177c8cfa44655a4627a91635299c6 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(73.317,73.317,-52.983,-52.983) |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic The Sentinel |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic The Sentinel |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 21, Pp 617-633 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/21/617/2021/acp-21-617-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-21-617-2021 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/1d2177c8cfa44655a4627a91635299c6 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-617-2021 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
617 |
op_container_end_page |
633 |
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1766088181750431744 |