Andrea Pazmino

Polar vortex evolution during the 2002 Antarctic major warming as observed by the Odin satellite

In September 2002 the Antarctic polar vortex split in two under the influence of a sudden warming. During this event, the Odin satellite was able to measure both ozone (O3) and chlorine monoxide (ClO), a key constituent responsible for the so-called “ozone hole”, together with nitrous oxide (N2O), a dynamical tracer, and nitric acid (HNO3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), tracers of denitrification. The submillimeter radiometer (SMR) microwave instrument and the Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imager System (OSIRIS) UV-visible light spectrometer (VIS) and IR instrument on board Odin have sounded the polar vortex during three different periods: before (19–20 September), during (24–25 September), and after (1–2 and 4–5 October) the vortex split. Odin observations coupled with the Reactive Processes Ruling the Ozone Budget in the Stratosphere (REPROBUS) chemical transport model at and above 500 K isentropic surfaces (heights above 18 km) reveal that on 19–20 September the Antarctic vortex was dynamically stable and chemically nominal: denitrified, with a nearly complete chlorine activation, and a 70% O3 loss at 500 K. On 25–26 September the unusual morphology of the vortex is monitored by the N2O observations. The measured ClO decay is consistent with other observations performed in 2002 and in the past. The vortex split episode is followed by a nearly complete deactivation of the ClO radicals on 1–2 October, leading to the end of the chemical O3 loss, while HNO3 and NO2 fields start increasing. This acceleration of the chlorine deactivation results from the warming of the Antarctic vortex in 2002, putting an early end to the polar stratospheric cloud season. The model simulation suggests that the vortex elongation toward regions of strong solar irradiance also favored the rapid reformation of ClONO2. The observed dynamical and chemical evolution of the 2002 polar vortex is qualitatively well reproduced by REPROBUS. Quantitative differences are mainly attributable to the too weak amounts of HNO3 in the model, which do not produce enough NO2 in presence of sunlight to deactivate chlorine as fast as observed by Odin.

Comparison of polar ozone loss rates simulated by one‐dimensional and three‐dimensional models with Match observations in recent Antarctic and Arctic winters

Simulations of ozone loss rates using a three-dimensional chemical transport model and a box model during recent Antarctic and Arctic winters are compared with experimental loss rates. The study focused on the Antarctic winter 2003, during which the first Antarctic Match campaign was organized, and on Arctic winters 1999/2000, 2002/2003. The maximum ozone loss rates retrieved by the Match technique for the winters and levels studied reached 6 ppbv/sunlit hour and both types of simulations could generally reproduce the observations at 2-sigma error bar level. In some cases, for example, for the Arctic winter 2002/2003 at 475 K level, an excellent agreement within 1-sigma standard deviation level was obtained. An overestimation was also found with the box model simulation at some isentropic levels for the Antarctic winter and the Arctic winter 1999/2000, indicating an overestimation of chlorine activation in the model. Loss rates in the Antarctic show signs of saturation in September, which have to be considered in the comparison. Sensitivity tests were performed with the box model in order to assess the impact of kinetic parameters of the ClO-Cl2O2 catalytic cycle and total bromine content on the ozone loss rate. These tests resulted in a maximum change in ozone loss rates of 1.2 ppbv/sunlit hour, generally in high solar zenith angle conditions. In some cases, a better agreement was achieved with fastest photolysis of Cl2O2 and additional source of total inorganic bromine but at the expense of overestimation of smaller ozone loss rates derived later in the winter.

Comparison between UV index measurements performed by research-grade and consumer-products instruments

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure, skin cancer and other related diseases are not just subjects of scientific literature. Nowadays, these themes are also discussed on television, newspapers and magazines for the general public. Consequently, the interest in prevention of sun overexposure is increasing, as the knowledge of photoprotection methods and UVR levels. The ultraviolet index (UVI) is a well-known tool recommended by the World Health Organization to avoid harmful effects of UV sunlight. UVI forecasts are provided by many national meteorological services, but local UVI measurements can provide a more realistic and appropriate evaluation of UVR levels. Indeed, as scientific instruments are very expensive and difficult to manipulate, several manufacturers and retail shops offer cheap and simple non-scientific instruments for UVI measurements, sometimes included in objects of everyday life, such as watches, outfits and hand-held instruments. In this work, we compare measurements provided by several commercial non-scientific instruments with data provided by a Bentham spectrometer, a very accurate sensor used for UV measurements. Results show that only a few of the instruments analyzed provide trustworthy UVI measurements.

Model Simulations of the Impact of the 2002 Antarctic Ozone Hole on the Midlatitudes

The 2002 Antarctic winter was characterized by unusually strong wave activity. The frequency and intensity of the anomalies increased in August and early September with a series of minor stratospheric warmings and culminated in a major stratospheric warming in late September. A three-dimensional highresolution chemical transport model is used to estimate the effect of the exceptional 2002 Antarctic winter on chemical ozone loss in the midlatitudes and in polar regions. An ozone budget analysis is performed using a range of geographical and chemical ozone tracers. To highlight the unusual behavior of the 2002 winter, the same analysis is performed for the more typical 2001 winter. The ability of the model to reproduce the evolution of polar and midlatitude ozone during these two contrasted winters is first evaluated against ozonesonde measurements at middle and high latitudes. The evolution of the model-calculated 2002 ozone loss within the deep vortex core is found to be somewhat similar to that seen in the 2001 simulation until November, which is consistent with a lower-stratospheric vortex core remaining more or less isolated even during the major warming. However, the simulations suggest that the wave activity anomalies in 2002 enhanced mixing well before the major warming within the usually weakly mixed vortex edge region and, to a lesser extent, within the surrounding extravortex region. As a result of the increased permeability of the vortex edge, the export of chemically activated vortex air is more efficient during the winter in 2002 than in 2001. This has a very noticeable impact on the model-calculated midlatitude ozone loss, with destruction rates being about 2 times higher during August and September in 2002 compared to 2001. If the meteorological conditions of 2002 were to become more prevalent in the future, Antarctic polar ozone depletion would certainly be reduced, especially in the vortex edge region. However, it is also likely that polar chemical activation would affect midlatitude ozone earlier in the winter.

Ozone depletion in the Arctic winter 2007–2008

The Arctic winter 2007–08 was characterized by cold temperatures and a strong vortex. Potentials for large areas of ice and Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs) are observed during the winter. A vortex wide denitrification (removal of 60–80% of NO y ) and intense chlorine activation (0.6 to 1.05 ppb of ClO) are found inside the vortex at 475 K. This chemical morphology triggered a high rate of ozone loss during the winter. The simulated results from MIMOSA-CHIM show a large loss of ozone at 425–550 K from January to March, about 1.5–2.3 ppm. The vortex averaged loss at 475 K is about 2.5 ppm in mid-March, which is in very good agreement with the estimated loss (2.3 ppm) from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) measurements. Similar analyses from MIMOSA-CHIM for recent winters show a cumulative loss of 2.1 ppm in 2006–07 and 2.0 ppm in 2004–05 in tune with the measurements. The measured and simulated results show the highest loss in 2007–08 in comparison with the analyses for the last four winters at 475 K.

New differential absorption lidar for stratospheric ozone monitoring in Patagonia, South Argentina

As part of environmental studies concerned with measurements of the stratospheric ozone layer, CEILAP has developed a new differential absorption lidar (DIAL) instrument. Since the initial construction of the first DIAL instrument, the Lidar Division of CEILAP has made important financial and scientific investments to upgrade this initial prototype. The new version has a bigger reception system formed by four Newtonian telescopes, each of 50 cm diameter, and a larger number of detection channels: four different wavelengths are detected simultaneously and six digital channels record the Rayleigh and Raman backscattered photons emitted by a ClXe excimer laser at 308 nm and the third harmonic of a Nd–YAG laser at 355 nm. A number of different changes have been made to increase the dynamic range of this lidar: a mechanical chopper was installed together with a gated photomultiplier in the high-energy detection channels to avoid the detector being overloaded by strong signals from lower atmospheric layers. This new version was installed inside a shelter, giving the possibility to make field campaigns outside CEILAP laboratories, for example the SOLAR campaign made in the Argentine Patagonian region during 2005 and 2006 spring periods. In this paper a full description of the instrument update is given. Intercomparisons with the ozone sonde and satellite platform instrument are presented. The results show agreement better than 10% in 16–38 km altitude range when the same airmasses are sampled. The comparison with five quasi-coincident sondes launched in Punta Arenas during spring 2005 shows good agreement between both types of measurement, with relative differences inside 1σ deviation of the lidar measurement. The comparison of the integral of height integrated lidar profiles with total ozone column measured with a Brewer photometer shows good agreement, with relative differences less than 10%.

Variations of UV irradiance at Antarctic station Concordia during the springs of 2008 and 2009

Abstract The features of solar UV irradiance measured at the Italian-French Antarctic Plateau station, Concordia, during the springs of 2008 and 2009 are presented and discussed. In order to study the impact of the large springtime variations in total ozone column on the fraction of ultraviolet B (UV-B) irradiance (from c. 290–315 nm) reaching the Earth surface, irradiance datasets corresponding to fixed solar zenith angles (SZAs = 65°, 75° and 85°) are correlated to the daily ozone column provided by different instruments. For these SZAs the radiation amplification factor varied from 1.58–1.94 at 306 nm and from 0.68–0.88 at 314 nm. The ultraviolet index reached a maximum level of 8 in the summer, corresponding to the typical average summer value for mid latitude sites. The solar irradiance pertaining to the ultraviolet A (UV-A, 315–400 nm) spectral band was found to depend closely on variations of atmospheric transmittance characteristics as reported by previous studies. Model simulations of UV-B irradiance showed a good agreement with field measurements at 65° and 75° SZAs. For SZA = 85° the ozone vertical distribution significantly impacted model estimations. Sensitivity analysis performed by hypothetically varying the ozone distribution revealed some features of the ozone profiles that occurred in the period studied here.

The incidence of erythemal and UV solar irradiance over Buenos Aires, Argentina

Measurements are presented of UV solar irradiances at 305, 320, 340 and 380 nm and erythemal irradiance on clear-sky days in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. These values are compared with data calculated from a radiative atmospheric transfer model. Two quantities of major importance in this model are the ozone and aerosol atmospheric contents. Different values are assigned to them in order to estimate their relative importance in the solar UV irradiance reaching this geographical location. Complementary data on ozone profiles, obtained with the DIAL technique at the same location, are also presented. These spectral and erythemal irradiances are of importance in relation to the biological effects induced in humans by solar UV radiation.

New Differential Absorption Lidar for Stratospheric Ozone Monitoring in Argentina

As part of environmental studies concerning with measurements of the stratospheric ozone layer, the CEILAP developed a new Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) instrument. Since the early construction of the first DIAL instrument, Lidar Division has been made important financial and scientific investments to improve this initial prototype. The new version has a bigger reception system formed by 4 newtonian telescopes of 50 cm diameter each one and a higher number of detection channels: four different wavelengths are detected simultaneously and six digital channels record the Rayleigh and Raman backscattered photons emitted by an ClXe Excimer laser at 308 nm and third harmonic of Nd‐YAG laser at 355 nm. A number of different changes have been made to increase the dynamical range of this lidar: a mechanical chopper was installed together with gated photomultiplier in the high energy detection channels to avoid strong signals from lower atmospheric layers. This new version was installed inside a shelter give...

Intercomparison of ozone profiles measurements by a differential absorption lidar system and satellites at Buenos Aires, Argentina

A ground-based differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) system has been implemented at CEILAP laboratory, located in the Buenos Aires industrial suburbs, The goal was to perform measurements of the stratospheric ozone layer. Since early 199 systematic measurements of zone concentration profiles from approximately 18 to 35 km altitude are performed. Our measurements are carried out in 5 hours in average during the night and in cloudless conditions. The DIAL system allows us to calculate directly the ozone profile from the lidar backscattering radiation since it is a self- calibrating technique. The signals processing takes into account the influence of the temperature profile on the ozone cross section. The temperature data is obtained from the radiosondes measurements performed at Ezeira International Airport. The evolution of the stratospheric ozone profile is studied for different months. Results are compared with the data obtained by different satellites like SAGE II and HALOE. The spatial and temporal range of the satellites must be taken into account.