The Antarctic ozone hole during 2011

• Published in: Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal
• Main Authors: Klekociuk, AR, Tully, MB, Krummel, PB, Gies, HP, Petelina, SV, Alexander, SP, Deschamps, LL, Fraser, PJ, Henderson, SI, Javorniczky, J, Shanklin, JD, Siddaway, JM, Stone, KA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Australia. Bureau of Meteorology 2014
• Subjects: Earth Sciences; Atmospheric Sciences; Meteorology; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://www.bom.gov.au/jshess/papers2009-2015.shtml; https://doi.org/10.22499/2.6404.006; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/119151

The Antarctic ozone hole of 2011 is reviewed from a variety of perspectives, makinguse of various data and analyses. The ozone hole of 2011 was relatively largein terms of maximum area, minimum ozone level and total ozone deficit, beingranked amongst the top ten in terms of severity of the 32 ozone holes adequatelycharacterised since 1979. In particular, the estimated integrated ozone mass effectivelyremoved within the ozone hole of 2011 was 2119 Mt, which is the 7th largestdeficit on record and 82 per cent of the peak value observed in 2006. The key factorsin promoting the extent of Antarctic ozone loss in 2011 were the relatively lowtemperatures that occurred in the lower stratosphere of the polar cap region overmost of the year, and the fact that the stratospheric vortex was relatively strongand stable, at least up to mid-spring. Dynamical disturbance of the polar vortexfrom mid-spring increased Antarctic ozone levels in the latter part of the ozoneholes evolution and helped to limit the overall severity of depletion. Through examinationof regression of various ozone metrics against expected levels of equivalenteffective stratospheric chlorine, we suggest that recent changes in averagedozone levels over Antarctica show some evidence of the recovery expected due tointernational controls on the manufacture of ozone depleting chemicals, albeit ata statistically low level of confidence due to the influence of meteorological factorsthat largely dictate year-to-year variability of Antarctic ozone loss.