ASSESSMENT OF CONTRIBUTION OF CHEMICAL OZONE DESTRUCTION TO TOTAL OZONE IN THE ARCTIC POLAR CYCLONE IN THE WINTER AND SPRING OF 2000

N. D. Tsvetkova, H. Nakane, V. A. Yushkov, A. N. Lukyanov, and V. M. Dorokhov

A technique for estimating chemical ozone losses in the Arctic cyclone at altitudes of 15—25 km from balloon sounding data at the Salekhard station during the winter and spring of 2000 is considered. Maximum chemical losses of ozone (1.9 ± 0.2 ppm) are observed at a level of potential temperature 475 K. Above 500 K, the rate of chemical destruction of ozone drops sharply and reaches zero at the 625 K potential temperature level, which corresponds to the maximum altitude of polar stratospheric clouds. By the end of March 2000, total ozone (TO) decline due to chemical destruction was 90.0 ± 13.6 DU. It is shown that calculated TO values expected at the Salekhard station in January—March in the absence of chemical destruction of ozone agree well the long-term mean.