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The Antarctic ozone hole during 2017
Citation
Klekociuk, AR and Tully, MB and Krummel, PB and Evtushevsky, O and Kravchenko, V and Henderson, SI and Alexander, SP and Querel, RR and Nichol, S and Smale, D and Milinevsky, GP and Grytsai, A and Fraser, PJ and Xiangdong, Z and Gies, HP and Schofield, R and Shanklin, JD, The Antarctic ozone hole during 2017, Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science, 69, (1) pp. 29-51. ISSN 2206-5865 (2020) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2019 The Authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
DOI: doi:10.1071/ES19019
Abstract
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 ranks 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 makeup of
the polar vortex based on 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 2014 and 2016, when the ozone hole was
larger than in 2017. Overall, we find 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.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | ozone, stratosphere |
| Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
| Research Group: | Atmospheric sciences |
| Research Field: | Atmospheric composition, chemistry and processes |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Air quality, atmosphere and weather |
| Objective Field: | Atmospheric processes and dynamics |
| UTAS Author: | Klekociuk, AR (Dr Andrew Klekociuk) |
| UTAS Author: | Alexander, SP (Dr Simon Alexander) |
| ID Code: | 134273 |
| Year Published: | 2020 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 3 |
| Deposited By: | CRC-Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems |
| Deposited On: | 2019-08-06 |
| Last Modified: | 2021-03-16 |
| Downloads: | 16 View Download Statistics |
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