Interannual variations of total ozone and their relationship to variations of planetary wave activity

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999 · Journal of Climate

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012<1619:IVOTOA>2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:6300188

Fusco, A C ^[1]; Salby, M L ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Center for Atmospheric Theory and Analysis
2. Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)

Interannual variations of total ozone at midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are shown to operate coherently wit h variations of upwelling planetary wave activity from the troposphere. Variations of upwelling wave activity, which modulate ozone transport and chemical production by the diabatic mean circulation of the stratosphere, account for much of the interannual variance of total ozone, including its systematic decline during the 1980s. Chemical depletion, enhanced by increasing halocarbon levels, accounts for the remainder of the midlatitude trend, consistent with values widely reported by chemical models that do not account for observed changes in upwelling planetary wave activity. Much of the chemical contribution comes from sharply enhanced depletion following the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, during the final years of the satellite record. Incomplete representation of the 3--5-yr recovery toward normal aerosol and ozone after Pinatubo appears to distort the trend inferred from the overall satellite record to values that are unrepresentative of the rest of the record. The impact on ozone of interannual changes of upwelling planetary wave activity is evaluated in calculations with a three-dimensional model of stratospheric dynamics and photochemistry, which reproduce the magnitude and structure of observed interannual variations.

• OSTI ID: 6300188
• Journal Information: Journal of Climate, Journal Name: Journal of Climate Vol. 12:6; ISSN JLCLEL; ISSN 0894-8755
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring &amp; Transport-- (1990-)
AIR POLLUTION
ANNUAL VARIATIONS
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
OZONE
POLLUTION
VARIATIONS