UV radiation below an Arctic vortex with severe ozone depletion

• Main Authors: B. M. Knudsen, H. Jønch-Sørensen, P. Eriksen, B. J. Johnsen, G. E. Bodeker
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2005
• Subjects: Physics; QC1-999; Chemistry; QD1-999; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/30fc3fa94a2c4e008f253c1fd8679d91

The erythemally weighted (UV) irradiance below the severely depleted Arctic vortices in spring 1996 and 1997 were substantially elevated. On average the UV increased 36 and 33% relative to the 1979-1981 mean assuming clear skies from day 80-100 in 1996 and 1997, respectively. On clear sky days large regions of the Arctic experienced maximum UV increases exceeding 70 and 50% on single days in 1996 and 1997, respectively. A minor fraction of these increases are not anthropogenic and have a dynamical origin as seen by comparison to 1982, when hardly any ozone depletion is expected.