The Antarctic ozone hole during 2014

We review the 2014 Antarctic ozone hole, making use of a variety of ground-based and space-based measurements of ozone and ultra-violet radiation, supplemented by meteorological reanalyses. Although the polar vortex was relatively stable in 2014 and persisted some weeks longer into November than was the case in 2012 or 2013, the vortex temperature was close to the long-term mean in September and October with modest warming events occurring in both months, preventing severe depletion from taking place. Of the seven metrics reported here, all were close to their respective median values of the 1979–2014 record, being ranked between 16th and 21st of the 35 years for which adequate satellite observations exist.

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The Antarctic ozone hole during 2017

Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth System Science ◽

10.1071/es19019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 69 (1) ◽

pp. 29

Author(s):

Andrew R. Klekociuk ◽

Matthew B. Tully ◽

Paul B. Krummel ◽

Oleksandr Evtushevsky ◽

Volodymyr Kravchenko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stratospheric Ozone ◽

Polar Vortex ◽

Wave Activity ◽

Ozone Hole ◽

Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽

Ozone Loss ◽

Hole Making ◽

Antarctic Ozone ◽

The Antarctic ◽

Antarctic Ozone Hole

We review the 2017 Antarctic ozone hole, making use of various meteorological reanalyses, and in-situ, satellite and ground-based measurements of ozone and related trace gases, and ground-based measurements of ultraviolet radiation. The 2017 ozone hole was associated with relatively high-ozone concentrations over the Antarctic region compared to other years, and our analysis ranked it in the smallest 25% of observed ozone holes in terms of size. The severity of stratospheric ozone loss was comparable with that which occurred in 2002 (when the stratospheric vortex exhibited an unprecedented major warming) and most years prior to 1989 (which were early in the development of the ozone hole). Disturbances to the polar vortex in August and September that were associated with intervals of anomalous planetary wave activity resulted in significant erosion of the polar vortex and the mitigation of the overall level of ozone depletion. The enhanced wave activity was favoured by below-average westerly winds at high southern latitudes during winter, and the prevailing easterly phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). Using proxy information on the chemical make-up of the polar vortex based on the analysis of nitrous oxide and the likely influence of the QBO, we suggest that the concentration of inorganic chlorine, which plays a key role in ozone loss, was likely similar to that in 2014 and 2016, when the ozone hole was larger than that in 2017. Finally, we found that the overall severity of Antarctic ozone loss in 2017 was largely dictated by the timing of the disturbances to the polar vortex rather than interannual variability in the level of inorganic chlorine.

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QUASI-BIENNIAL OSCILLATION OF ZONAL WIND IN THE EQUATORIAL STRATOSPHERE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON INTERANNUAL FLUCTUATIONS IN THE DEPTH OF THE ANTARCTIC OZONE HOLE

Meteorologiya i Gidrologiya ◽

10.52002/0130-2906-2021-5-5-15 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 5-15

Author(s):

I. P. Gabis ◽

Keyword(s):

Ozone Hole ◽

Anthropogenic Factors ◽

Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽

Antarctic Ozone ◽

Interannual Fluctuations ◽

Ozone Depleting Substances ◽

The Antarctic ◽

Biennial Oscillation ◽

Antarctic Ozone Hole

The Antarctic ozone hole is observed annually in spring due to the complex influence of photochemical and dynamical processes. The increased concentration of ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere causes a long-term negative trend in total ozone (TO). Intense interannual fluctuations in TO against a background of the long-term trend associated with dynamic atmospheric processes do not allow assessing definitely the direction of the trend (growth/decline) in the recent years. Studying the dependence of interannual fluctuations in the ozone hole intensity on the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) allows identifying natural causes of variations and assessing the trend due to anthropogenic factors. The long-term QBO forecast allows predicting different phenomena that depend on the QBO.

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The simulation of the Antarctic ozone hole by chemistry-climate models

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-9-6363-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 9 (17) ◽

pp. 6363-6376 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

H. Struthers ◽

G. E. Bodeker ◽

J. Austin ◽

S. Bekki ◽

I. Cionni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Models ◽

Polar Vortex ◽

Ozone Hole ◽

Total Column Ozone ◽

Hole Area ◽

Antarctic Ozone ◽

Column Ozone ◽

The Antarctic ◽

Total Column ◽

Antarctic Ozone Hole

Abstract. While chemistry-climate models are able to reproduce many characteristics of the global total column ozone field and its long-term evolution, they have fared less well in simulating the commonly used diagnostic of the area of the Antarctic ozone hole i.e. the area within the 220 Dobson Unit (DU) contour. Two possible reasons for this are: (1) the underlying Global Climate Model (GCM) does not correctly simulate the size of the polar vortex, and (2) the stratospheric chemistry scheme incorporated into the GCM, and/or the model dynamics, results in systematic biases in the total column ozone fields such that the 220 DU contour is no longer appropriate for delineating the edge of the ozone hole. Both causes are examined here with a view to developing ozone hole area diagnostics that better suit measurement-model inter-comparisons. The interplay between the shape of the meridional mixing barrier at the edge of the vortex and the meridional gradients in total column ozone across the vortex edge is investigated in measurements and in 5 chemistry-climate models (CCMs). Analysis of the simulation of the polar vortex in the CCMs shows that the first of the two possible causes does play a role in some models. This in turn affects the ability of the models to simulate the large observed meridional gradients in total column ozone. The second of the two causes also strongly affects the ability of the CCMs to track the observed size of the ozone hole. It is shown that by applying a common algorithm to the CCMs for selecting a delineating threshold unique to each model, a more appropriate diagnostic of ozone hole area can be generated that shows better agreement with that derived from observations.

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