Open AccessA test of our understanding of the ozone chemistry in the Arctic polar vortex based on in situ measurements of ClO, BrO, and O 3 in the 1994/1995 winter
Author(s) -
Woyke Thomas,
Müller Rolf,
Stroh Fred,
McKenna Daniel S.,
Engel Andreas,
Margitan James J.,
Rex Markus,
Carslaw Kenneth S.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/1999jd900287
Subject(s) - ozone , polar vortex , ozone depletion , atmospheric sciences , arctic , mixing ratio , bromine , altitude (triangle) , environmental science , atmospheric chemistry , stratosphere , ozone layer , air mass (solar energy) , chlorine , climatology , meteorology , chemistry , physics , geology , oceanography , thermodynamics , boundary layer , geometry , mathematics , organic chemistry
We present an analysis of in situ measurements of ClO, BrO, O 3 , and long‐lived tracers obtained on a balloon flight in the Arctic polar vortex launched from Kiruna, Sweden, 68°N, on February 3, 1995. Using the method of tracer correlations, we deduce that the air masses sampled at an altitude of 21 km (480 K potential temperature), where a layer of enhanced ClO mixing ratios of up to 1150 parts per trillion by volume was observed, experienced a cumulative chemical ozone loss of 1.0±0.3 ppmv between late November 1994 and early February 1995. This estimate of chemical ozone loss can be confirmed using independent data sets and independent methods. Calculations using a trajectory box model show that the simulations underestimate the cumulative ozone loss by approximately a factor of 2, although observed ClO and BrO mixing ratios are well reproduced by the model. Employing additional simulations of ozone loss rates for idealized conditions, we conclude that the known chlorine and bromine catalytic cycles destroying odd oxygen with the known rate constants and absorption cross sections do not quantitatively account for the early winter ozone losses infered for air masses observed at 21 km.