An updated version of a gap-free monthly mean zonal mean ozone database

An updated and improved version of a global, vertically resolved, monthly mean zonal mean ozone database has been calculated – hereafter referred to as the BSVertOzone (Bodeker Scientific Vertical Ozone) database. Like its predecessor, it combines measurements from several satellite-based instruments and ozone profile measurements from the global ozonesonde network. Monthly mean zonal mean ozone concentrations in mixing ratio and number density are provided in 5° latitude bins, spanning 70 altitude levels (1 to 70km), or 70 pressure levels that are approximately 1km apart (878.4 to 0.046hPa). Different data sets or “tiers” are provided: Tier 0 is based only on the available measurements and therefore does not completely cover the whole globe or the full vertical range uniformly; the Tier 0.5 monthly mean zonal means are calculated as a filled version of the Tier 0 database where missing monthly mean zonal mean values are estimated from correlations against a total column ozone (TCO) database. The Tier 0.5 data set includes the full range of measurement variability and is created as an intermediate step for the calculation of the Tier 1 data where a least squares regression model is used to attribute variability to various known forcing factors for ozone. Regression model fit coefficients are expanded in Fourier series and Legendre polynomials (to account for seasonality and latitudinal structure, respectively). Four different combinations of contributions from selected regression model basis functions result in four different Tier 1 data sets that can be used for comparisons with chemistry–climate model (CCM) simulations that do not exhibit the same unforced variability as reality (unless they are nudged towards reanalyses). Compared to previous versions of the database, this update includes additional satellite data sources and ozonesonde measurements to extend the database period to 2016. Additional improvements over the previous version of the database include the following: (i) adjustments of measurements to account for biases and drifts between different data sources (using a chemistry-transport model, CTM, simulation as a transfer standard), (ii) a more objective way to determine the optimum number of Fourier and Legendre expansions for the basis function fit coefficients, and (iii) the derivation of methodological and measurement uncertainties on each database value are traced through all data modification steps. Comparisons with the ozone database from SWOOSH (Stratospheric Water and OzOne Satellite Homogenized data set) show good agreement in many regions of the globe. Minor differences are caused by different bias adjustment procedures for the two databases. However, compared to SWOOSH, BSVertOzone additionally covers the troposphere. Version 1.0 of BSVertOzone is publicly available at https://doi.org/http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1217184

The 2010 Antarctic ozone hole: Observed reduction in ozone destruction by minor sudden stratospheric warmings

Satellite observations show that the 2010 Antarctic ozone hole is characterized by anomalously small amounts of photochemical ozone destruction (40-60% less than the 2005-2009 average). Observations from the MLS instrument show that this is mainly related to reduced photochemical ozone destruction between 20-25 km altitude. Lower down between 15-20 km the atmospheric chemical composition and photochemical ozone destruction is unaffected. The modified chemical composition and chemistry between 20-25 km altitude in 2010 is related to the occurrence of a mid-winter minor Antarctic Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW). The measurements indicate that the changes in chemical composition are related to downward motion of air masses rather than horizontal mixing, and affect stratospheric chemistry for several months. Since 1979, years with similar anomalously small amounts of ozone destruction are all characterized by either minor or major SSWs, illustrating that their presence has been a necessary pre-condition for reduced Antarctic stratospheric ozone destruction

Past changes in the vertical distribution of ozone - Part 3: Analysis and interpretation of trends

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Copernicus Publications via http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9965-2015Abstract. Trends in the vertical distribution of ozone are reported and compared for a number of new and recently revised data sets. The amount of ozone-depleting compounds in the stratosphere (as measured by equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine – EESC) was maximised in the second half of the 1990s. We examine the periods before and after the peak to see if any change in trend is discernible in the ozone record that might be attributable to a change in the EESC trend, though no attribution is attempted. Prior to 1998, trends in the upper stratosphere (~ 45 km, 4 hPa) are found to be −5 to −10 % per decade at mid-latitudes and closer to −5 % per decade in the tropics. No trends are found in the mid-stratosphere (28 km, 30 hPa). Negative trends are seen in the lower stratosphere at mid-latitudes in both hemispheres and in the deep tropics. However, it is hard to be categorical about the trends in the lower stratosphere for three reasons: (i) there are fewer measurements, (ii) the data quality is poorer, and (iii) the measurements in the 1990s are perturbed by aerosols from the Mt Pinatubo eruption in 1991. These findings are similar to those reported previously even though the measurements for the main satellite and ground-based records have been revised. There is no sign of a continued negative trend in the upper stratosphere since 1998: instead there is a hint of an average positive trend of ~ 2 % per decade in mid-latitudes and ~ 3 % per decade in the tropics. The significance of these upward trends is investigated using different assumptions of the independence of the trend estimates found from different data sets. The averaged upward trends are significant if the trends derived from various data sets are assumed to be independent (as in Pawson et al., 2014) but are generally not significant if the trends are not independent. This occurs because many of the underlying measurement records are used in more than one merged data set. At this point it is not possible to say which assumption is best. Including an estimate of the drift of the overall ozone observing system decreases the significance of the trends. The significance will become clearer as (i) more years are added to the observational record, (ii) further improvements are made to the historic ozone record (e.g. through algorithm development), and (iii) the data merging techniques are refined, particularly through a more rigorous treatment of uncertainties. The support of SPARC, IO3C, IGACO-O3 and NDACC was essential to the success of the initiative. Neil Harris thanks the UK Natural Environment Research Council for an Advanced Research Fellowship. Work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was performed under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Measurements at Lauder are core funded through New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, while those at Woolongong are supported by the Australian Research Council

How substantial are ultraviolet-B supplementation inaccuracies in experimental square-wave delivery systems?

Square-wave (SQW) ultraviolet-B (UV-B: 280–315 nm) radiation supplementation systems continue to be used in outdoor experimental locations due to the economically restrictive installation and maintenance costs, and technical expertise required to effectively operate more advanced modulated (MOD) delivery systems. However, continued yet contentious criticisms of SQW delivery systems risk creating prejudices as to the validity of plant responses measured in these with potentially negative repercussions on future UV-B experimentation. Consequently, we quantified the magnitude of UV-B supplementation inaccuracies in our typical outdoor step-wise SQW delivery system using 7-year records of computer-modeled and instrument-measured solar UV-B irradiances and synchronous measurements of total solar (300–3000 nm) radiation and daily sunshine duration. Both broad- and narrow-band instrument measurements confirmed that our step-wise SQW delivery system rendered larger total daily supplemental UV-B exposures (time-integrated UV-B irradiances) than a MOD delivery system on only substantially overcast days (25% or less daily sunshine duration). These larger supplemental UV-B exposures were augmented with increased magnitude of the added artificial UV-B supplement. However, their ranges did not exceed those in a MOD delivery system by more than 10% for added UV-B supplements of realistic magnitude (30% or less above background), except on virtually completely overcast days (5% or less daily sunshine duration). Also, our step-wise SQW delivery system rendered higher photon flux ratios of UV-B/total solar radiation than a MOD delivery system on only substantially overcast days, the ranges of which were also augmented with increased magnitude of the added artificial UV-B supplement. However, these features were restricted to high solar angles, since with reduced solar angle these higher photon flux ratios also included progressively less overcast days. Nevertheless, ranges of photon flux ratio increases were well below reported thresholds inhibiting to plant growth at all solar angles for the added artificial UV-B supplements of realistic magnitude, except on virtually completely overcast days. Results point to an under-estimation of clear-sky UV-B irradiance by the computer-encoded semi-empirical model commonly utilized to predict background and supplemental UV-B irradiances for SQW delivery systems. They confirm the superiority of MOD delivery systems in providing more realistic conditions of UV-B increases but likewise demonstrate little justification on balance for branding results derived from all field-based SQW delivery systems as exaggerated where sensible irradiation protocols and realistic UV-B supplements are applied. This is the final, accepted and revised manuscript of this article. Use alternative location to go to the published article. Requires subscription

Impacts of the production and consumption of biofuels on stratospheric ozone

Biofuels are becoming increasingly popular sources of renewable energy as economic pressures and environmental consequences encourage the use of alternatives to fossil fuels. However, growing crops destined for use as biofuels incurs large N2O emissions associated with the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. Besides being a greenhouse gas, N2O is also the primary source of stratospheric NOx (NO + NO2) which leads to stratospheric ozone depletion. In this paper, the potential effects on the ozone layer of a large-scale shift away from fossil fuel use to biofuels consumption over the 21st century are examined. Under such a scenario, global-mean column ozone decreases by 2.6 DU between 2010 and 2100 in contrast to a 0.7 DU decrease under a control simulation (the IPCC SRES B1 scenario for greenhouse gases) and a 9.1 DU increase under the more commonly used SRES A1B scenario. Two factors cause the decrease in ozone in the biofuels simulation: 1) large N2O emissions lead to faster rates of the ozone-depleting NOx cycles and; 2) reduced CO2 emissions (due to less fossil fuel burning) lead to relatively less stratospheric cooling over the 21st century, which decreases ozone abundances. Reducing CO2 emissions while neglecting to reduce N2O emissions could therefore be damaging to the ozone layer

The sensitivity of stratospheric ozone through the 21st century to N2O and CH4

Through the 21st century, anthropogenic emissions of the greenhouse gases N 2 O and CH 4 are projected to increase, thus increasing their atmospheric concentrations. Consequently, reactive nitrogen species produced from N 2 O and reactive hydrogen species produced from CH 4 are expected to play an increasingly important role in determining stratospheric ozone concentrations. Eight chemistry-climate model simulations were performed to assess the sensitivity of stratospheric ozone to different emissions scenarios for N 2 O and CH 4 . Global-mean total column ozone increases through the 21st century in all eight simulations as a result of CO 2 -induced stratospheric cooling and decreasing stratospheric halogen concentrations. Larger N 2 O concentrations were associated with smaller ozone increases, due to reactive nitrogen-mediated ozone destruction. In the simulation with the largest N 2 O increase, global-mean total column ozone increased by 4.3 DU through the 21st century, compared with 10.0 DU in the simulation with the smallest N 2 O increase. In contrast, larger CH 4 concentrations were associated with larger ozone increases; global-mean total column ozone increased by 16.7 DU through the 21st century in the simulation with the largest CH 4 concentrations and by 4.4 DU in the simulation with the lowest CH 4 concentrations. CH 4 leads to ozone loss in the upper and lower stratosphere by increasing the rate of reactive hydrogen-mediated ozone loss cycles, however in the lower stratosphere and troposphere, CH 4 leads to ozone increases due to photochemical smog-type chemistry. In addition to this mechanism, total column ozone increases due to H 2 O-induced cooling of the stratosphere, and slowing of the chlorine-catalyzed ozone loss cycles due to an increased rate of the CH 4 + Cl reaction. Stratospheric column ozone through the 21st century exhibits a near-linear response to changes in N 2 O and CH 4 surface concentrations, which provides a simple parameterization for the ozone response to changes in these gases. © 2012 Author(s)

A comparison of Loon balloon observations and stratospheric reanalysis products

© Author(s) 2017. Location information from long-duration super-pressure balloons flying in the Southern Hemisphere lower stratosphere during 2014 as part of X Project Loon are used to assess the quality of a number of different reanalyses including National Centers for Environmental Prediction Climate Forecast System version 2 (NCEP-CFSv2), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA-Interim), NASA Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), and the recently released MERRA version 2. Balloon GPS location information is used to derive wind speeds which are then compared with values from the reanalyses interpolated to the balloon times and locations. All reanalysis data sets accurately describe the winds, with biases in zonal winds of less than 0.37 ms -1 and meridional biases of less than 0.08 ms -1 . The standard deviation on the differences between Loon and reanalyses zonal winds is latitude-dependent, ranging between 2.5 and 3.5 ms -1 , increasing equatorward. Comparisons between Loon trajectories and those calculated by applying a trajectory model to reanalysis wind fields show that MERRA-2 wind fields result in the most accurate simulated trajectories with a mean 5-day balloon-reanalysis trajectory separation of 621 km and median separation of 324 km showing significant improvements over MERRA version 1 and slightly outperforming ERA-Interim. The latitudinal structure of the trajectory statistics for all reanalyses displays marginally lower mean separations between 15 and 35° S than between 35 and 55° S, despite standard deviations in the wind differences increasing toward the equator. This is shown to be related to the distance travelled by the balloon playing a role in the separation statistics

The winter 2019 air pollution (PM2.5) measurement campaign in Christchurch, New Zealand

MAPM (Mapping Air Pollution eMissions) is a project whose goal is to develop a method to infer airborne particulate matter (PM) emissions maps from in situ PM concentration measurements. In support of MAPM, a winter field campaign was conducted in New Zealand in 2019 (June to September) to obtain the measurements required to test and validate the MAPM methodology. Two different types of instruments measuring PM were deployed: ES-642 remote dust monitors (17 instruments) and Outdoor Dust Information Nodes (ODINs; 50 instruments). The measurement campaign was bracketed by two intercomparisons where all instruments were co-located, with a permanently installed tapered element oscillating membrane (TEOM) instrument, to determine any instrument biases. Changes in biases between the pre-and post-campaign intercomparisons were used to determine instrument drift over the campaign period. Once deployed, each ES-642 was co-located with an ODIN. In addition to the PM measurements, meteorological variables (temperature, pressure, wind speed, and wind direction) were measured at three automatic weather station (AWS) sites established as part of the campaign, with additional data being sourced from 27 further AWSs operated by other agencies. Vertical profile measurements were made with 12 radiosondes during two 24 h periods and complimented measurements made with a mini micropulse lidar and ceilometer. Here we present the data collected during the campaign and discuss the correction of the measurements made by various PM instruments. We find that when compared to measurements made with a simple linear correction, a correction based on environmental conditions improves the quality of measurements retrieved from ODINs but results in over-fitting and increases the uncertainties when applied to the more sophisticated ES-642 instruments. We also compare PM2.5 and PM10 measured by ODINs which, in some cases, allows us to identify PM from natural and anthropogenic sources. The PM data collected during the campaign are publicly available from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4542559 (Dale et al., 2020b), and the data from other instruments are available from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4536640 (Dale et al., 2020a)

Cloud cover and horizontal plane eye damaging solar UV exposures

The spectral UV and the cloud cover were measured at intervals of 5 min with an integrated cloud and spectral UV measurement system at a sub-tropical Southern Hemisphere site for a 6-month period and solar zenith angle (SZA) range of 4.7 degrees to approximately 80 degrees. The solar UV spectra were recorded between 280 and 400 nm in 0.5 nm increments and weighted with the action spectra for photokeratitis and cataracts in order to investigate the effect of cloud cover on the horizontal plane biologically damaging UV irradiances for cataracts (UVBEcat) and photokeratitis (UVBEpker). Eighty five percent of the recorded spectra produced a measured irradiance to a cloud free irradiance ratio of 0.6 and higher while 76% produced a ratio of 0.8 and higher. Empirical non-linear expressions as a function of SZA have been developed for all sky conditions to allow the evaluation of the biologically damaging UV irradiances for photokeratitis and cataracts from a knowledge of the unweighted UV irradiances