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A Post‐2013 Dropoff in Total Ozone at a Third of Global Ozonesonde Stations: Electrochemical Concentration Cell Instrument Artifacts?
Author(s) -
Stauffer Ryan M.,
Thompson Anne M.,
Kollonige Debra E.,
Witte Jacquelyn C.,
Tarasick David W.,
Davies Jonathan,
Vömel Holger,
Morris Gary A.,
Van Malderen Roeland,
Johnson Bryan J.,
Querel Richard R.,
Selkirk Henry B.,
Stübi Rene,
Smit Herman G. J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl086791
Subject(s) - satellite , environmental science , meteorology , ozone , remote sensing , geography , physics , astronomy
An international effort to improve ozonesonde data quality and to reevaluate historical records has made significant improvements in the accuracy of global network data. However, between 2014 and 2016, ozonesonde total column ozone (TCO; O 3 ) at 14 of 37 regularly reporting stations exhibited a sudden dropoff relative to satellite measurements. The ozonesonde TCO drop is 3–7% compared to satellite and ground‐based TCO, and 5–10% or more compared to satellite stratospheric O 3 profiles, compromising the use of recent data for trends, although they remain reliable for other uses. Hardware changes in the ozonesonde instrument are likely a major factor in the O 3 dropoff, but no single property of the ozonesonde explains the findings. The bias remains in recent data. Research to understand the dropoff is in progress; this letter is intended as a caution to users of the data. Our findings underscore the importance of regular ozonesonde data evaluation.