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The Interaction Between Dynamics and Chemistry of Ozone in the Set-Up Phase of the Northern Hemisphere Polar VortexUnderstanding stratospheric ozone loss to the point of accurately predicting ozone in the future requires correctly distinguishing chemical from transport-induced changes in ozone. For example, evaluating the impact of chlorine reduction in controlling stratospheric ozone loss requires estimating the amount of ozone lost in chemical reactions in the polar winter and spring. The Northern Hemisphere winter polar region is a particularly crucial and interesting area because it appears that the Northern vortex may currently be poised near the threshold of extreme ozone destruction such as that which now occurs annually in the Antarctic ozone "hole." In this presentation we explore the interaction of ozone transport and chemistry through the Northern late summer and fall seasons as the vortex circulation becomes established. This phase of the seasonal cycle determines the starting point for heterogeneous processes and chlorine-driven loss that take control in the winter vortex. Using a combination of profile data from POAM, HALOE, and in situ measurements, we show that relatively low ozone at high latitudes in the middle stratosphere is associated with vortex airmasses and that these ozone abundances evolve photochemically from characteristically higher values at the end of the summer. The zonal variance of ozone mixing ratio also increases greatly at this time consistent with increasing wave-driven transport. Comparison with a three-dimensional chemistry-transport model is used to generalize the findings from the limited set of observations and quantify the relative roles of transport and chemistry in determining the ozone mixing ratio distributions.
Document ID
20000097952
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Kawa, S.R.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Douglass, A. R.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Bevilacqua, R.
(Naval Research Lab. Washington, DC United States)
Margitan, J. J.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Sen, B.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Einaudi, Franco
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2000
Subject Category
Environment Pollution
Meeting Information
Meeting: American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting
Location: Washington, DC
Country: United States
Start Date: May 30, 2000
End Date: June 3, 2000
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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