Austral-spring ozone measurements over Antarctica: a survey

Dr. Chris Kröger, University of Wyoming

The UW balloon group has been taking ozone measurements at McMurdo, Antarctica, since 1986, a year after the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole by Jim Farman et al. Dramatic ozone reductions in the south polar stratosphere can be seen annually between September and early November. Data from recent years show the lowest ozone values ever recorded. Stratospheric ozone depletion is understood to be the result of a combination of a cold stratosphere inside the polar night vortex, man-made chlorine species, nacreous clouds, and/or volcanic sulfuric acid.

This talk will give a general introduction to ozone chemistry and dynamics, and will then focus on our 15 years of ozone measurements in Antarctica. Our own data, combined with satellite total ozone measurements, indicate that the austral spring ozone budget is still on the decline, despite international efforts to decrease and halt ozone-harming chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) productions. Estimated start of significant austral-spring ozone recovery is in the middle of this century, however, it is unlikely that any of us will experience an ozone hole-free Antarctica in our lifetime.