Arctic ozone loss in threshold conditions: Match observations in 1997/1998 and 1998/1999

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
• Main Authors: Schulz, A., Rex, M., Harris, N., R. P., Braathen, G., O., Reimer, E., Alfier, R., Kilbane-Dawe, I., Eckermann, S., Allaart, M., Alpers, M., Bojkov, B., Cisneros, J., Claude, H., Cuevas, E., Davies, J., de Backer, H., Dier, H., Dorokhov, V., Fast, H., Godin, Sophie, Johnson, B., Kois, B., Kondo, Y., Kosmidis, E., Kyrö, E., Litynska, Z., Mikkelsen, I., S., Molyneux, M., J., Murphy, G., Nagai, T., Nakane, H., O'Connor, F., Parrondo, C., Schmidlin, F., J., Skrivankova, P., Varotsos, C., Vialle, C., Viatte, P., Yushkov, V., Zerefos, C., von Der Gathen, P.
• Other Authors: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), European Ozone Research Coordinating Unit Cambridge (EORCU), University of Cambridge UK (CAM), Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), Institut für Meteorologie Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics (AIP), Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia Madrid (INM), Deutscher Wetterdienst Offenbach (DWD), Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia Santa Cruz de Tenerife (INM), Environment and Climate Change Canada, Institut Royal Météorologique de Belgique Bruxelles - Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (IRM), Central Aerological Observatory (CAO), Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet), 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), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute (IMGW - PIB), The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), Department of Meteorology Reading, University of Reading (UOR), Irish Meteorological Service (MET ÉIREANN), Meteorological Research Institute Tsukuba (MRI), Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Centre for Atmospheric Science Cambridge, UK, Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Swiss Federal Office of Metrology (METAS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2001
• Subjects: [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; Arctic
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-03097721; https://insu.hal.science/insu-03097721/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-03097721/file/2000JD900653.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JD900653

International audience Chemical ozone loss rates inside the Arctic polar vortex were determined in early 1998 and early 1999 by using the Match technique based on coordinated ozonesonde measurements. These two winters provide the only opportunities in recent years to investigate chemical ozone loss in a warm Arctic vortex under threshold conditions, i.e., where the preconditions for chlorine activation, and hence ozone destruction, only occurred occasionally. In 1998, results were obtained in January and February between 410 and 520 K. The overall ozone loss was observed to be largely insignificant, with the exception of late February, when those air parcels exposed to temperatures below 195 K were affected by chemical ozone loss. In 1999, results are confined to the 475 K isentropic level, where no significant ozone loss was observed. Average temperatures were some 8°-10° higher than those in 1995, 1996, and 1997, when substantial chemical ozone loss occurred. The results underline the strong dependence of the chemical ozone loss on the stratospheric temperatures. This study shows that enhanced chlorine alone does not provide a sufficient condition for ozone loss. The evolution of stratospheric temperatures over the next decade will be the determining factor for the amount of wintertime chemical ozone loss in the Arctic stratosphere.