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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 10, NUMBER 1, JANUARY 1997

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
OZONE DEPLETION: CHEMISTRY & PHYSICS

Item #d97jan50

"The Effect of Small-Scale Inhomogeneities on Ozone Depletion in the Arctic," S. Edouard (Lab. Métérol. Dynamique du CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 Rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France), B. Legras et al., Nature, 384(6608), 444-447, Dec. 5, 1996.

The effect of small-scale stirring and mixing of the chemical species involved in ozone destruction can be misrepresented in chemical-transport models of the stratosphere because of their coarse spatial resolution. This study uses a very high-resolution model (with simplified chemistry) to show that depletion in the Arctic is sensitive to small-scale inhomogeneities. For the conditions of the winter of 1994-95 the effect is large enough to account for the observed discrepancies of about 40% between conventionally modeled and observed ozone depletion.

Item #d97jan51

Two items in J. Geophys. Res., 101(D17), Oct. 20, 1996.

"Polar Ozone Depletion: A Three-Dimensional Chemical Modeling Study of Its Long-Term Global Impact," R.S. Eckman (NASA-Langley Res. Ctr., Hampton VA 23681; r.s.eckman@larc.nasa.gov), W.L. Grose et al., 22,977-22,989. Used a 3-D chemistry transport modelto examine the export of ozone-poor air from the south polar region following the breakup of that polar vortex, . Ozone is transported towards the equator to about 20° S latitude by the first southern summer following the breakup. Results show a potential exists for the long-term accumulation of ozone loss in the southern polar region, and a gradual increase in the global impact of polar ozone depletion.

"Role of Aerosol Variations in Anthropogenic Ozone Depletion in the Polar Regions," R.W. Portmann (Aeron. Lab., NOAA, 325 Broadway, Boulder CO 80303), S. Solomon et al., 22,991-23,006. A climatology of aerosol surface area inferred from satellite measurements is used as input to a 2-D model. Finds that volcanic aerosol inputs are likely to modulate the severity of the Antarctic ozone hole. Of other factors investigated, temperature and aerosol amount were found to have the strongest control on the modeled ozone loss, for a given chlorine loading. Implications for the Arctic are discussed.

Item #d97jan52

"Correlations Between Ozone Loss and Volcanic Aerosol at Altitudes Below 14 km over McMurdo Station, Antarctica," T. Deshler (Dept. Atmos. Sci., Univ. Wyoming, Laramie WY 82071), B.J. Johnson et al., Geophys. Res. Lett., 23(21), 2931-2934, 1996.

Ozone and aerosol profiles have been measured in the austral spring for the years 1986-1995, spanning the development and decay of the recent perturbation to stratospheric aerosol caused by the Pinatubo eruption. The volcanic aerosol signal persisted over Antarctica for three austral springs, implying an exponential decay rate of about 14 months.

Item #d97jan53

"The 1996 Antarctic Ozone Hole," D.J. Hofmann (CMDL/NOAA, 325 Broadway, Boulder CO 80303; e-mail: dhofmann@cmdl.noaa.gov), Nature, 383(6596), 129, Sep. 12, 1996.

Predicts a deeper ozone hole for 1996 because of the effects of the quasi-biennial oscillation in stratospheric winds. (See Global Climate Change Digest, News, Dec. 1996.)