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Record low ozone values over the Arctic in boreal spring 2020
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Journal Article
Record low ozone values over the Arctic in boreal spring 2020
2021
Overview
Ozone data derived from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument
(TROPOMI) sensor on board the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite show
exceptionally low total ozone columns in the polar region of the Northern Hemisphere (Arctic) in spring 2020. Minimum total ozone column values around
or below 220 Dobson units (DU) were seen over the Arctic for 5 weeks in
March and early April 2020. Usually the persistence of such low total ozone
column values in spring is only observed in the polar Southern Hemisphere (Antarctic) and not over the Arctic. These record low total
ozone columns were caused by a particularly strong polar vortex in the
stratosphere with a persistent cold stratosphere at higher latitudes, a
prerequisite for ozone depletion through heterogeneous chemistry. Based on
the ERA5, which is the fifth generation of the European Centre for
Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) atmospheric reanalysis, the Northern
Hemisphere winter 2019/2020 (from December to March) showed minimum polar cap
temperatures consistently below 195 K around 20 km altitude, which enabled
enhanced formation of polar stratospheric clouds. The special situation in
spring 2020 is compared and discussed in context with two other Northern Hemisphere spring seasons, namely those in 1997 and 2011, which also
displayed relatively low total ozone column values. However, during these
years, total ozone columns below 220 DU over several consecutive days were
not observed in spring. The similarities and differences of the atmospheric
conditions of these three events and possible explanations for the observed
features are presented and discussed. It becomes apparent that the monthly
mean of the minimum total ozone column value for March 2020 (221 DU) was
clearly below the respective values found in March 1997 (267 DU) and 2011
(252 DU), which highlights the special evolution of the polar stratospheric
ozone layer in the Northern Hemisphere in spring 2020. A comparison with a
typical ozone hole over the Antarctic (e.g., in 2016) indicates that although
the Arctic spring 2020 situation is remarkable, with total ozone column
values around or below 220 DU observed over a considerable area (up to 0.9 million km2), the Antarctic ozone hole shows total ozone columns
typically below 150 DU over a much larger area (of the order of 20 million km2). Furthermore, total ozone columns below 220 DU are typically
observed over the Antarctic for about 4 months.
