TY  - JOUR
A1  - Grooß, Jens‐Uwe
A1  - Müller, Rolf
T1  - Simulation of Record Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Depletion in 2020
Y1  - 2021-06-17
VL  - 126
IS  - 12
JF  - Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DO  - 10.1029/2020JD033339
DO  - 10.23689/fidgeo-5184
N2  - In the Arctic winter/spring of 2019/2020, stratospheric temperatures were exceptionally low until early April and the polar vortex was very stable. As a consequence, significant chemical ozone depletion occurred in the Arctic polar vortex in spring 2020. Here, we present simulations using the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere that address the development of chlorine compounds and ozone in the Arctic stratosphere in 2020. The simulation reproduces relevant observations of ozone and chlorine compounds, as shown by comparisons with data from the Microwave Limb Sounder, Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment‐Fourier Transform Spectrometer, balloon‐borne ozone sondes, and the Ozone Monitoring Instrument. Although the concentration of chlorine and bromine compounds in the polar stratosphere has decreased by more than 10% compared to peak values around the year 2000, the meteorological conditions in winter/spring 2019/2020 caused unprecedented ozone depletion. The lowest simulated ozone mixing ratio was about 40 ppbv. Because extremely low ozone mixing ratios were reached in the lower polar stratosphere, chlorine deactivation into HCl occurred as is normally observed in the Antarctic polar vortex. The depletion in partial column ozone in the lower stratosphere (potential temperature from 350 to 600 K, corresponding to about 12–24 km) in the vortex core was calculated to reach 143 Dobson Units, which is more than the ozone loss in 2011 and 2016, the years which —until 2020— had seen the largest Arctic ozone depletion on record.
N2  - Plain Language Summary: In Arctic winter and spring 2019/2020, the stratospheric temperatures were exceptionally low for a long time period. This caused an unprecedented Arctic ozone depletion. We show simulations that represent this ozone depletion. The simulated ozone mixing ratios compare well with satellite and in situ observations.
N2  - Key Points: The Arctic vortex was exceptionally cold and stable in winter 2019/2020 resulting in substantial Arctic ozone depletion. Arctic ozone loss in 2020 exceeded that in the cold Arctic springs of 2011 and 2016 that had previously shown the strongest ozone depletion. Significant chlorine deactivation into HCl occurred, as is regularly observed in Antarctica.
UR  - http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/9530
ER  -