Review of the manuscript entitled ‘How does Downward Planetary Wave coupling affect Polar Stratospheric Ozone in the Arctic Winter Stratosphere?’ by S. W. Lubis et al. submitted to Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anonymous
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro W. Lubis ◽  
Vered Silverman ◽  
Katja Matthes ◽  
Nili Harnik ◽  
Nour-Eddine Omrani ◽  
...  

Abstract. It is well established that variable wintertime planetary wave forcing in the stratosphere controls the variability of Arctic stratospheric ozone through changes in the strength of the polar vortex and the residual circulation. While previous studies focused on the variations in upward wave flux entering the lower stratosphere, here the impact of downward planetary wave coupling (DWC) on ozone is investigated for the first time. Utilizing the MERRA-2 reanalysis and a fully coupled chemistry-climate simulation with NCAR's Community Earth System Model (CESM1[WACCM]), we find two DWC effects on ozone: (1) the direct effect in which the residual circulation is modified and prevents the typical increase of ozone due to upward planetary wave events in winter, and (2) the indirect effect in which the modification of polar temperature during winter affects the amount of ozone destruction in spring. Winter seasons dominated by DWC events (i.e., reflective winters) are characterized by lower Arctic ozone concentration, while seasons dominated by increased upward wave events (i.e., absorptive winters) are characterized by relatively higher ozone concentration. This behavior is consistent with the cumulative effects of downward and upward planetary wave events on polar stratospheric ozone via the residual circulation and the polar temperature in winter. The results establish a new perspective on dynamical processes controlling stratospheric ozone variability in the Arctic.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1679-1688 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Bohlinger ◽  
B.-M. Sinnhuber ◽  
R. Ruhnke ◽  
O. Kirner

Abstract. Arctic stratospheric ozone depletion is closely linked to the occurrence of low stratospheric temperatures. There are indications that cold winters in the Arctic stratosphere have been getting colder, raising the question if and to what extent a cooling of the Arctic stratosphere may continue into the future. We use meteorological reanalyses from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim and NASA's Modern-Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) for the past 32 yr together with calculations of the chemistry-climate model (CCM) ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) and models from the Chemistry-Climate Model Validation (CCMVal) project to infer radiative and dynamical contributions to long-term Arctic stratospheric temperature changes. For the past three decades the reanalyses show a warming trend in winter and cooling trend in spring and summer, which agree well with trends from the Radiosonde Innovation Composite Homogenization (RICH) adjusted radiosonde data set. Changes in winter and spring are caused by a corresponding change of planetary wave activity with increases in winter and decreases in spring. During winter the increase of planetary wave activity is counteracted by a residual radiatively induced cooling. Stratospheric radiatively induced cooling is detected throughout all seasons, being highly significant in spring and summer. This means that for a given dynamical situation, according to ERA-Interim the annual mean temperature of the Arctic lower stratosphere has been cooling by −0.41 ± 0.11 K decade−1 at 50 hPa over the past 32 yr. Calculations with state-of-the-art models from CCMVal and the EMAC model qualitatively reproduce the radiatively induced cooling for the past decades, but underestimate the amount of radiatively induced cooling deduced from reanalyses. There are indications that this discrepancy could be partly related to a possible underestimation of past Arctic ozone trends in the models. The models project a continued cooling of the Arctic stratosphere over the coming decades (2001–2049) that is for the annual mean about 40% less than the modeled cooling for the past, due to the reduction of ozone depleting substances and the resulting ozone recovery. This projected cooling in turn could offset between 15 and 40% of the Arctic ozone recovery.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro W. Lubis ◽  
Vered Silverman ◽  
Katja Matthes ◽  
Nili Harnik ◽  
Nour-Eddine Omrani ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farahnaz Khosrawi ◽  
Oliver Kirner ◽  
Björn-Martin Sinnhuber ◽  
Sören Johansson ◽  
Michael Höpfner ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Arctic winter 2015/2016 was one of the coldest stratospheric winters in recent years. A stable vortex formed by early December and the early winter was exceptionally cold. Cold pool temperatures dropped below the Nitric Acid Trihydrate (NAT) existence temperature of about 195 K, thus allowing Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs) to form. The low temperatures in the polar stratosphere persisted until early March allowing chlorine activation and catalytic ozone destruction. Satellite observations indicate that sedimentation of PSC particles led to denitrification as well as dehydration of stratospheric layers. Model simulations of the Arctic winter 2015/2016 nudged toward European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analyses data were performed with the atmospheric chemistry–climate model ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) for the Polar Stratosphere in a Changing Climate (POLSTRACC) campaign. POLSTRACC is a High Altitude and LOng Range Research Aircraft (HALO) mission aimed at the investigation of the structure, composition and evolution of the Arctic Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (UTLS). The chemical and physical processes involved in Arctic stratospheric ozone depletion, transport and mixing processes in the UTLS at high latitudes, polar stratospheric clouds as well as cirrus clouds are investigated. In this study an overview of the chemistry and dynamics of the Arctic winter 2015/2016 as simulated with EMAC is given. Further, chemical-dynamical processes such as denitrification, dehydration and ozone loss during the Arctic winter 2015/2016 are investigated. Comparisons to satellite observations by the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (Aura/MLS) as well as to airborne measurements with the Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (GLORIA) performed on board of HALO during the POLSTRACC campaign show that the EMAC simulations are in fairly good agreement with observations. We derive a maximum polar stratospheric O3 loss of ~ 2 ppmv or 100 DU in terms of column in mid March. The stratosphere was denitrified by about 8 ppbv HNO3 and dehydrated by about 1 ppmv H2O in mid to end of February. While ozone loss was quite strong, but not as strong as in 2010/2011, denitrification and dehydration were so far the strongest observed in the Arctic stratosphere in the at least past 10 years.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 2437-2458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro W. Lubis ◽  
Vered Silverman ◽  
Katja Matthes ◽  
Nili Harnik ◽  
Nour-Eddine Omrani ◽  
...  

Abstract. It is well established that variable wintertime planetary wave forcing in the stratosphere controls the variability of Arctic stratospheric ozone through changes in the strength of the polar vortex and the residual circulation. While previous studies focused on the variations in upward wave flux entering the lower stratosphere, here the impact of downward planetary wave reflection on ozone is investigated for the first time. Utilizing the MERRA2 reanalysis and a fully coupled chemistry–climate simulation with the Community Earth System Model (CESM1(WACCM)) of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), we find two downward wave reflection effects on ozone: (1) the direct effect in which the residual circulation is weakened during winter, reducing the typical increase of ozone due to upward planetary wave events and (2) the indirect effect in which the modification of polar temperature during winter affects the amount of ozone destruction in spring. Winter seasons dominated by downward wave reflection events (i.e., reflective winters) are characterized by lower Arctic ozone concentration, while seasons dominated by increased upward wave events (i.e., absorptive winters) are characterized by relatively higher ozone concentration. This behavior is consistent with the cumulative effects of downward and upward planetary wave events on polar stratospheric ozone via the residual circulation and the polar temperature in winter. The results establish a new perspective on dynamical processes controlling stratospheric ozone variability in the Arctic by highlighting the key role of wave reflection.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 2269-2293 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Lefever ◽  
R. van der A ◽  
F. Baier ◽  
Y. Christophe ◽  
Q. Errera ◽  
...  

Abstract. This paper evaluates and discusses the quality of the stratospheric ozone analyses delivered in near real time by the MACC (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate) project during the 3-year period between September 2009 and September 2012. Ozone analyses produced by four different chemical data assimilation (CDA) systems are examined and compared: the Integrated Forecast System coupled to the Model for OZone And Related chemical Tracers (IFS-MOZART); the Belgian Assimilation System for Chemical ObsErvations (BASCOE); the Synoptic Analysis of Chemical Constituents by Advanced Data Assimilation (SACADA); and the Data Assimilation Model based on Transport Model version 3 (TM3DAM). The assimilated satellite ozone retrievals differed for each system; SACADA and TM3DAM assimilated only total ozone observations, BASCOE assimilated profiles for ozone and some related species, while IFS-MOZART assimilated both types of ozone observations. All analyses deliver total column values that agree well with ground-based observations (biases < 5%) and have a realistic seasonal cycle, except for BASCOE analyses, which underestimate total ozone in the tropics all year long by 7 to 10%, and SACADA analyses, which overestimate total ozone in polar night regions by up to 30%. The validation of the vertical distribution is based on independent observations from ozonesondes and the ACE-FTS (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment – Fourier Transform Spectrometer) satellite instrument. It cannot be performed with TM3DAM, which is designed only to deliver analyses of total ozone columns. Vertically alternating positive and negative biases are found in the IFS-MOZART analyses as well as an overestimation of 30 to 60% in the polar lower stratosphere during polar ozone depletion events. SACADA underestimates lower stratospheric ozone by up to 50% during these events above the South Pole and overestimates it by approximately the same amount in the tropics. The three-dimensional (3-D) analyses delivered by BASCOE are found to have the best quality among the three systems resolving the vertical dimension, with biases not exceeding 10% all year long, at all stratospheric levels and in all latitude bands, except in the tropical lowermost stratosphere. The northern spring 2011 period is studied in more detail to evaluate the ability of the analyses to represent the exceptional ozone depletion event, which happened above the Arctic in March 2011. Offline sensitivity tests are performed during this month and indicate that the differences between the forward models or the assimilation algorithms are much less important than the characteristics of the assimilated data sets. They also show that IFS-MOZART is able to deliver realistic analyses of ozone both in the troposphere and in the stratosphere, but this requires the assimilation of observations from nadir-looking instruments as well as the assimilation of profiles, which are well resolved vertically and extend into the lowermost stratosphere.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (21) ◽  
pp. 12893-12910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farahnaz Khosrawi ◽  
Oliver Kirner ◽  
Björn-Martin Sinnhuber ◽  
Sören Johansson ◽  
Michael Höpfner ◽  
...  

Abstract. The 2015/2016 Arctic winter was one of the coldest stratospheric winters in recent years. A stable vortex formed by early December and the early winter was exceptionally cold. Cold pool temperatures dropped below the nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) existence temperature of about 195 K, thus allowing polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) to form. The low temperatures in the polar stratosphere persisted until early March, allowing chlorine activation and catalytic ozone destruction. Satellite observations indicate that sedimentation of PSC particles led to denitrification as well as dehydration of stratospheric layers. Model simulations of the 2015/2016 Arctic winter nudged toward European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analysis data were performed with the atmospheric chemistry–climate model ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) for the Polar Stratosphere in a Changing Climate (POLSTRACC) campaign. POLSTRACC is a High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO) mission aimed at the investigation of the structure, composition and evolution of the Arctic upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). The chemical and physical processes involved in Arctic stratospheric ozone depletion, transport and mixing processes in the UTLS at high latitudes, PSCs and cirrus clouds are investigated. In this study, an overview of the chemistry and dynamics of the 2015/2016 Arctic winter as simulated with EMAC is given. Further, chemical–dynamical processes such as denitrification, dehydration and ozone loss during the 2015/2016 Arctic winter are investigated. Comparisons to satellite observations by the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (Aura/MLS) as well as to airborne measurements with the Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (GLORIA) performed aboard HALO during the POLSTRACC campaign show that the EMAC simulations nudged toward ECMWF analysis generally agree well with observations. We derive a maximum polar stratospheric O3 loss of ∼ 2 ppmv or 117 DU in terms of column ozone in mid-March. The stratosphere was denitrified by about 4–8 ppbv HNO3 and dehydrated by about 0.6–1 ppmv H2O from the middle to the end of February. While ozone loss was quite strong, but not as strong as in 2010/2011, denitrification and dehydration were so far the strongest observed in the Arctic stratosphere in at least the past 10 years.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 577-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debora Griffin ◽  
Kaley A. Walker ◽  
Ingo Wohltmann ◽  
Sandip S. Dhomse ◽  
Markus Rex ◽  
...  

Abstract. Stratospheric ozone loss inside the Arctic polar vortex for the winters between 2004–2005 and 2012–2013 has been quantified using measurements from the space-borne Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS). For the first time, an evaluation has been performed of six different ozone loss estimation methods based on the same single observational dataset to determine the Arctic ozone loss (mixing ratio loss profiles and the partial-column ozone losses between 380 and 550 K). The methods used are the tracer-tracer correlation, the artificial tracer correlation, the average vortex profile descent, and the passive subtraction with model output from both Lagrangian and Eulerian chemical transport models (CTMs). For the tracer-tracer, the artificial tracer, and the average vortex profile descent approaches, various tracers have been used that are also measured by ACE-FTS. From these seven tracers investigated (CH4, N2O, HF, OCS, CFC-11, CFC-12, and CFC-113), we found that CH4, N2O, HF, and CFC-12 are the most suitable tracers for investigating polar stratospheric ozone depletion with ACE-FTS v3.5. The ozone loss estimates (in terms of the mixing ratio as well as total column ozone) are generally in good agreement between the different methods and among the different tracers. However, using the average vortex profile descent technique typically leads to smaller maximum losses (by approximately 15–30 DU) compared to all other methods. The passive subtraction method using output from CTMs generally results in slightly larger losses compared to the techniques that use ACE-FTS measurements only. The ozone loss computed, using both measurements and models, shows the greatest loss during the 2010–2011 Arctic winter. For that year, our results show that maximum ozone loss (2.1–2.7 ppmv) occurred at 460 K. The estimated partial-column ozone loss inside the polar vortex (between 380 and 550 K) using the different methods is 66–103, 61–95, 59–96, 41–89, and 85–122 DU for March 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011, respectively. Ozone loss is difficult to diagnose for the Arctic winters during 2005–2006, 2008–2009, 2011–2012, and 2012–2013, because strong polar vortex disturbance or major sudden stratospheric warming events significantly perturbed the polar vortex, thereby limiting the number of measurements available for the analysis of ozone loss.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Schranz ◽  
Jonas Hagen ◽  
Gunter Stober ◽  
Klemens Hocke ◽  
Axel Murk ◽  
...  

Abstract. Middle atmospheric ozone, water vapour and zonal and meridional wind profiles have been measured with the two ground-based microwave radiometers GROMOS-C and MIAWARA-C. The instruments are located at the Arctic research base AWIPEV at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (79° N, 12° E) since September 2015. GROMOS-C measures ozone spectra in the four cardinal directions with an elevation angle of 22°. This means that the probed airmasses at an altitude of 3 hPa (37 km) have a horizontal distance of 92 km to Ny-Ålesund. We retrieve four separate ozone profiles along the lines of sight and calculate daily mean horizontal ozone gradients which allow us to investigate the small-scale spatial variability of ozone above Ny-Ålesund. In winter 2018/2019 a major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) took place with the central date at 2 January. We present the ozone, water vapour and wind measurements of the winter 2018/2019 and discuss the signatures of the SSW in a global context. We further present the evolution of the ozone gradients at Ny-Ålesund and link it to the planetary wave activity. At 3 hPa we find a distinct seasonal variation of the ozone gradients. In October and March a strong polar vortex leads to ozone decreases towards the pole. In November the amplitudes of the planetary waves grow until they break in the end of December and an SSW takes place. From November until February the ozone gradients mostly point to higher latitudes and the magnitude is smaller than in October and March. We attribute this to the planetary wave activity of wave number 1 and 2 which enabled meridional transport. The MERRA-2 reanalysis and the SD-WACCM model are able to capture the small-scale ozone variability and its seasonal changes.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 6707-6728
Author(s):  
P. Bohlinger ◽  
B.-M. Sinnhuber ◽  
R. Ruhnke ◽  
O. Kirner

Abstract. Arctic stratospheric ozone depletion is closely linked to the occurrence of low stratospheric temperatures. There are indications that cold winters in the Arctic stratosphere have been getting colder, raising the question if and to what extent a cooling of the Arctic stratosphere may continue into the future. We use meteorological re-analyses from ERA-Interim for the past 32 yr together with calculations of the chemistry-climate model EMAC and CCM models from the CCMVal project to infer radiative and dynamical contributions to long-term Arctic stratospheric temperature changes. For the past three decades ERA-Interim shows a warming trend in winter and cooling trend in spring and summer. Changes in winter and spring are caused by a corresponding change of planetary wave activity with increases in winter and decreases in spring. During winter the increase of planetary wave activity is counteracted by a radiatively induced cooling. Stratospheric radiatively induced cooling is detected throughout all seasons being highly significant in spring and summer. This means that for a given dynamical situation, in ERA-Interim the annual mean temperature of the Arctic lower stratosphere has been cooling by −0.41 ± 0.11 K decade−1 at 50 hPa over the past 32 yr. Calculations with state-of-the-art models from CCMVal and the EMAC model confirm the radiatively induced cooling for the past decades, but underestimate the amount of radiatively induced cooling deduced from ERA-Interim. EMAC predicts a continued annual radiatively induced cooling for the coming decades (2001–2049) of −0.15 ± 0.06 K decade−1 where the projected increase of CO2 accounts for about 2/3 of the cooling effect. Expected decrease of stratospheric halogen loading and resulting ozone recovery in the future counteracts the cooling tendency due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and leads to a reduced future cooling trend compared to the past. CCMVal multi-model mean predicts a future annual mean radiatively induced cooling of −0.10 ± 0.02 K decade−1 which is also smaller in the future than in the past.


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