Atmospheric Science

Severe 2011 ozone depletion assessed with 11 years of ozone, NO2, and OClO measurements at 80°N

  1. C. Adams1,
  2. K. Strong1,
  3. X. Zhao1,
  4. M. R. Bassford1,2,
  5. M. P. Chipperfield3,
  6. W. Daffer4,
  7. J. R. Drummond1,5,
  8. E. E. Farahani1,
  9. W. Feng3,6,
  10. A. Fraser1,7,
  11. F. Goutail8,
  12. G. Manney4,9,
  13. C. A. McLinden10,
  14. A. Pazmino8,
  15. M. Rex11,
  16. Kaley A. Walker1,12

Article first published online: 13 MAR 2012

DOI: 10.1029/2011GL050478

Issue

Geophysical Research Letters

Geophysical Research Letters

Additional Information

How to Cite

Adams, C., et al. (2012), Severe 2011 ozone depletion assessed with 11 years of ozone, NO2, and OClO measurements at 80°N, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L05806, doi:10.1029/2011GL050478.

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  2. 2

    Now at RAND Europe, Cambridge, UK

  3. 3

    Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

  4. 4

    Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

  5. 5

    Department of Physics and Atmospheric Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

  6. 6

    National Centre for Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

  7. 7

    Now at School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

  8. 8

    LATMOS, CNRS, Guyancourt, France

  9. 9

    Department of Physics, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico, USA

  10. 10

    Environment Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  11. 11

    Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany

  12. 12

    Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 13 MAR 2012
  2. Article first published online: 13 MAR 2012
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 14 FEB 2012
  4. Manuscript Revised: 7 FEB 2012
  5. Manuscript Received: 4 DEC 2011

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (681K)

Keywords:

  • Arctic ozone depletion;
  • CANDAC;
  • DOAS;
  • PEARL;
  • UV-visible spectroscopy;
  • polar vortex

[1] Unusually cold conditions in Arctic winter 2010/11 led to large stratospheric ozone loss. We investigate this with UV-visible measurements made at Eureka, Canada (80.05°N, 86.42°W) from 1999–2011. For 8–22 March 2011, OClO was enhanced, indicating chlorine activation above Eureka. Ozone columns were lower than in any other year in the record, reaching minima of 237 DU and 247 DU in two datasets. The average NO2 column inside the vortex, measured at visible and UV wavelengths, was 46 ± 30% and 45 ± 27% lower in 2011 than the average NO2column from previous years. Ozone column loss was estimated from two ozone datasets, using a modeled passive ozone tracer. For 12–20 March 2011, the average ozone loss was 27% and 29% (99 DU and 108 DU). The largest percent ozone loss in the 11-year record of 47% (250 DU and 251 DU) was observed on 5 April 2011.

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (681K)