Fluctuations of total ozone and their relationship to stratospheric air motions

Journal Article · Sat Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 1993 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/92JD01814· OSTI ID:6700955

Salby, M L; Callaghan, P F ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder (United States)

Satellite measurements reveal the distribution of ozone column abundance to be complex and highly dynamic, with fluctuations as large as 100% common in both hemispheres. Observations of total ozone from Numbus 7 total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) together with contemporaneous analyses of the circulation are used to investigate the origin of these fluctuations. A large component of total ozone variability is explained by quasi-columnar motion of air along isentropic surfaces in the lower stratosphere. The vertical component of such motion introduces anomalous column abundance through compression and expansion, which alters the ozone number density of individual bodies of air. This process leads to a high correlation between the total ozone and the elevation of isentropic surfaces in the lower stratosphere. The horizontal component of column-averaged motion introduces anomalous total ozone by rearanging the distribution of column-averaged ozone mixing ratio, which can be derived from TOMS measurements and contemporaneous isentropic analyses. Quasi-conserved, column-averaged ozone mixing ratio is well correlated with equivalent barotropic potential vorticity, which is a tracer of column-averaged motion. In fact, anomalies of column-averaged mixing ratio created during major warmings can be tracked intact and coincident with companion anomalies in the circulation for as long as 3 weeks. Because it follows from observations of tracer behavior, column-averaged ozone mixing ratio may provide a more detailed picture of air motions in the lower stratosphere than is possible from potential vorticity, which must be derived largely from temperature observations. Together with contemporaneous cloud imagery, TOMS observations also reveal interactions with tropospheric convection, which result in a loss and, ultimately, the destruction of stratospheric ozone. 17 refs., 1 fig.

• OSTI ID: 6700955
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol. 98:D2; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
OZONE
DENSITY
FLUCTUATIONS
SATELLITES
REMOTE SENSING
ABUNDANCE
AIR
BEHAVIOR
COMPRESSION
CONVECTION
DISTRIBUTION
EXPANSION
MAPPING
MIXING RATIO
MOTION
ORIGIN
STRATOSPHERE
SURFACES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ENERGY TRANSFER
EVALUATION
FLUIDS
GASES
HEAT TRANSFER
MASS TRANSFER
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
VARIATIONS
540120* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540110