TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON SURFACE OZONE CONCENTRATION IN THE VICINITY OF THE TOWN OF KISLOVODSK

I. N. Kuznetsova, N. F. Elanskii, I. Yu. Shalygina, E. N. Kadygrov, and A. D. Lykov

The temperature of the lower 600-meter atmospheric layer was measured with a remote profiler MTP-5 in the vicinity of Kislovodsk in April—May 2000 under expedition conditions. It was confirmed that inversion layers play a decisive role in the formation of a nighttime minimum of surface ozone in a piedmont area with a basin-like relief. In the region of the Kislovodsk high-mountain research station the temperature inversions were mostly of an advective origin. The wind regime was found to influence the ozone concentration in the surface air. The expedition observations confirmed the conclusion that in that region the surface ozone variability is similar to that in the free atmosphere and that there are two basic mechanisms which control the ozone content: advective and vertical transport from the upper atmosphere.