A composite study of cloud, ozone and other data from recent satellite experiments

Abstract

Pictorial data from the Image Dissector Camera System (IDCS) and Temperature-Humidity Infrared Radiometer (THIR) experiments on Nimbus 4 satellite are analyzed along with: (a) global total ozone maps prepared from Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS) data and (b) total ozone and its vertical distribution as derived from Backscatter Ultraviolet (BUV) spectrometer data. A close relationship is generally observed between centers of high ozone and vortices in the IDCS and THIR montages. This is also confirmed by low centers in the 200 mb Northern Hemisphere charts. The vertical distribution of ozone indicates that the enhancement in ozone in these cases occurs in the lower stratosphere (and possibly to a minor extent in the troposphere) rather than in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere.