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Ozone change from 1992 to 1993 as observed from SSBUV on the ATLAS‐1 and Atlas‐2 missions
Author(s) -
Hilsenrath E.,
Newman P. A.,
Cebula R. P.,
DeCamp P. W.,
Kelly T. J.,
Coy L.
Publication year - 1996
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 - 10.1029/96gl01120
Subject(s) - ozone , stratosphere , environmental science , latitude , atmospheric sciences , atlas (anatomy) , meteorology , climatology , physics , geology , geodesy , paleontology
The Shuttle SBUV (SSBUV) conducted its fourth and fifth flights in late March 1992 and early April 1993 along with the ATLAS‐1 and ATLAS‐2 Shuttle missions, respectively. The two successive SSBUV flights yielded ozone data nearly one year apart. An analysis of the meteorological conditions, namely temperature and winds, during the two flight periods indicate that the conditions in the stratosphere were very similar. The temperatures had significantly warmed from winter throughout most of the stratosphere and the circulation was approaching normal summertime conditions for both periods. SSBUV‐4, flown in 1992, measured ozone from approximately 30S to 60N while SSBUV‐5, flown in 1993, measured ozone from approximately 55S to 60N. Zonal average column ozone amounts were derived from the two flights and compared to determine if a systematic change in ozone could be detected despite the fact that only a few days from each year were sampled. The comparison indicates that in the latitude range 30N to 60N total ozone was lower in 1993 than in 1992 by about 12%. This change is larger than the observational errors and the expected interannual variations. This result verifies similar data taken from ground and satellites.