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The 1989 Antarctic ozone hole as observed by TOMS

In 1989 the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) aboard the Nimbus 7 satellite observed the springtime decrease in Antarctic total ozone for the 11th consecutive year. The 1989 minimum values of total ozone measured by TOMS declined throughout the month of September at a rate nearly identical to 1987. The area of the ozone hole as defined by the 220 DU contour grew rapidly during early September. It reached a mid-September peak of 7.5 percent of the Southern Hemisphere, or 19 million square kilometers, essentially the same as observed in 1987. From mid-October through November 1989, minimum polar total ozone values increased and the area within the 220 DU contour decreased more rapidly than during the comparable period of 1987. The more rapid erosion of the 1989 ozone hole resulted from strong wave number one perturbations of the vortex dynamics in late October.

Stolarski, Richard S.↗

Global average ozone change from November 1978 to May 1990

A recent recalibration and reprocessing of the total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) data have made possible a new determination of the global average total ozone decrease of 3.5 percent over the 11-year period, January 1, 1979, to December 31, 1989, with a 2 sigma error of 1.4 percent. The revised TOMS ozone trend data are in agreement, within error limits, with the average of 39 ground-based Dobson stations and with the world standard Dobson spectrometer 83 at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Superimposed on the 11-year ozone trend is a possible solar cycle effect, quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), annual, and semiannual cycles. Using solar 10-7-cm flux data and 30-mbar Singapore wind data (QBO), a time series has been constructed that reproduces the long-term behavior of the globally averaged ozone. Removal of the apparent solar cycle effect from the global average reduces the net ozone loss to 2.66 + or - 1.4 percent per decade. The precise value of the global average ozone trend depends on the latitude range selected, with ranges greater than + or - 69 emphasizing the larger variations at high latitudes.

Herman, J. R.↗

Direct measurements of tropospheric ozone using TOMS data

Fishman and Larsen have proposed a new algorithm, called 'tropospheric residual method,' which retrieves the climatological tropospheric ozone by using SAGE (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment) and TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) data. In this paper, we will examine the feasibility of detection for tropospheric ozone using only TOMS data. From a case study over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of west Africa, it has been found that total ozone in the archived TOMS data has been overestimated over a region of marine-stratocumulus clouds.

Hudson, Robert D.↗

GOME Total Ozone and Calibration Error Derived Usign Version 8 TOMS Algorithm

The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) is a hyper-spectral satellite instrument measuring the ultraviolet backscatter at relatively high spectral resolution. GOME radiances have been slit averaged to emulate measurements of the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) made at discrete wavelengths and processed using the new TOMS Version 8 Ozone Algorithm. Compared to Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) techniques based on local structure in the Huggins Bands, the TOMS uses differential absorption between a pair of wavelengths including the local stiucture as well as the background continuum. This makes the TOMS Algorithm more sensitive to ozone, but it also makes the algorithm more sensitive to instrument calibration errors. While calibration adjustments are not needed for the fitting techniques like the DOAS employed in GOME algorithms, some adjustment is necessary when applying the TOMS Algorithm to GOME. Using spectral discrimination at near ultraviolet wavelength channels unabsorbed by ozone, the GOME wavelength dependent calibration drift is estimated and then checked using pair justification. In addition, the day one calibration offset is estimated based on the residuals of the Version 8 TOMS Algorithm. The estimated drift in the 2b detector of GOME is small through the first four years and then increases rapidly to +5% in normalized radiance at 331 nm relative to 385 nm by mid 2000. The lb detector appears to be quite well behaved throughout this time period.

Gleason, J.↗

Sensitivity of the Assimilated Ozone in the UTLS to Model and Data Selection Changes

This presentation will discuss the sensitivity of assimilated ozone fields in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) to a number of factors, focusing mainly on aspects of data selection and the prediction model. This is important, because assimilation represents an attempt to construct our best estimates of the true ozone field; however, inaccuracies in the UTLS ozone distribution translate into an uncertainty in factors such as the calculated radiative forcing of climate or the inferred stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) of ozone. The 3D ozone data assimilation system, from NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), combines observations of total ozone column and stratospheric profiles with predictions from an off-line, parameterized chemistry and transport model (pCTM) to produce six-hourly, global analyses. The first experiments discussed assimilate ozone retrievals from the Earth-Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (EPTOMS) and stratospheric profiles from the Solar Backscatter UltraViolet/2 (SBUV/2) instrument. The SBUV/2 ozone data have a coarse vertical resolution, with increased uncertainty below the ozone maximum, and TOMS provides only total ozone columns. Thus, the assimilated ozone profiles in the UTLS region are only weakly constrained by the incoming SBUV and TOMS data. Consequently, the assimilated ozone distribution should be sensitive to changes in inputs to the statistical analysis scheme. Sensitivity studies have been conducted to examine the responses to TOMS and SBUV/2 data selection, modifications of the forecast and observation error covariance models, and the model formulation (turning off chemistry or using different wind analyses in the pCTM). The second set of experiments includes an additional data type: ozone retrieved from infrared limb-emission by MIPAS on Envisat. These data offer not only improved vertical resolution in the stratosphere, but also give measurements in the polar night. Comparisons of the assimilated ozone fields from both sets of experiments with independent observations, primarily ozone sondes, are used to determine the impact of each of these changes. It is shown that many of the changes have a significant impact on the UTLS ozone estimates. Implications for interpretation of STE and radiative forcing of climate are discussed.

Pawson, Steven↗

The Dawn of Geostationary Air Quality Monitoring: Case Studies from Seoul and Los Angeles

With the near-future launch of geostationary pollution monitoring satellite instruments over North America, East Asia, and Europe, the air quality community is preparing for an integrated global atmospheric composition observing system at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. One of the ways that NASA has supported this community preparation is through demonstration of future space-borne capabilities using the Geostationary Trace gas and Aerosol Sensor Optimization (GeoTASO) airborne instrument. This paper integrates repeated high-resolution maps from GeoTASO, ground-based Pandora spectrometers, and low Earth orbit measurements from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), for case studies over two metropolitan areas: Seoul, South Korea on June 9, 2016 and Los Angeles, California on June 27, 2017. This dataset provides a unique opportunity to illustrate how geostationary air quality monitoring platforms and ground-based remote sensing networks will close the current spatiotemporal observation gap. GeoTASO observes large differences in diurnal behavior between these urban areas, with NO2 accumulating within the Seoul Metropolitan Area through the day but NO2 peaking in the morning and decreasing throughout the afternoon in the Los Angeles Basin. In both areas, the earliest morning maps exhibit spatial patterns similar to emission source areas (e.g., urbanized valleys, roadways, major airports). These spatial patterns change later in the day due to boundary layer dynamics, horizontal transport, and chemistry. The nominal resolution of GeoTASO is finer than will be obtained from geostationary platforms, but when NO2 data over Los Angeles are up-scaled to the expected resolution of TEMPO, spatial features discussed are conserved. Pandora instruments installed in both metropolitan areas capture the diurnal patterns observed by GeoTASO, continuously and over longer time periods, and will play a critical role in validation of the next generation of satellite measurement. These case studies demonstrate that different regions can have diverse diurnal patterns and that day-to-day variability due to meteorology or anthropogenic patterns such as weekday/weekend variations in emissions is large. Low Earth orbit measurements, despite their inability to capture the diurnal patterns at fine spatial resolution, will be essential for intercalibrating the geostationary radiances and cross-validating the geostationary retrievals in an integrated global observing system.

Geostationary↗

Observation of El Chichon volcanic aerosols by the solar backscattered ultraviolet (SBUV) experiment

The Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Experiment (SBUV) aboard the Nimbus-7 satellite identified large amounts of SO2 in the tropical stratosphere on April 15, 1982, 11 days after major eruption of the El Chichon volcano in southern Mexico. It is shown in the present study that the backscattered ultraviolet radiances measured by the SBUV experiment have been strongly affected by the presence of stratospheric volcanic cloud from the El Chichon eruptions. Both SO2 and aerosol amounts present in the volcanic cloud have been mapped on the basis of an analysis of the radiances measured by the SBUV and TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) experiments. It is estimated that a volcanic cloud of optical depths as small as 0.03 can be detected using SBUV, provided the cloud reaches the middle atmosphere. Lower-altitude clouds have progressively smaller effects on the radiances as well as on the ozone profile derived from them and are therefore harder to detect.

Bhartia, P. K.↗

The 1987 Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment: the Nimbus-7 TOMS Data Atlas

Total ozone data taken by the Nimbus-7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) played a central role in the successful outcome of the 1987 Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment. The near-real-time TOMS total ozone observations were suppled within hours of real time to the operations center in Punta Arenas, Chile, over a telecommunications network designed specifically for this purpose. The TOMS data preparation and method of transfer over the telecommunications links are reviewed. This atlas includes a complete set of the near-real-time TOMS orbital overpass data over regions around the Palmer Peninsula of Antarctica for the period of August 8 through September 29, 1987. Also provided are daily polar orthographic projections of TOMS total ozone measurements over the Southern Hemisphere from August through November 1987. In addition, a chronology of the salient points of the experiment, along with some latitudinal cross sections and time series at locations of interest of the TOMS total ozone observations are presented. The TOMS total ozone measurements are evaluated along the flight tracks of each of the ER-2 and DC-8 missions during the experiment. The ozone hole is shown here to develop in a monotonic progression throughout late August and September. The minimum total ozone amount was found on 5 October, when its all-time lowest value of 109 DU is recorded. The hole remains well defined, but fills gradually from mid-October through mid-November. The hole's dissolution is observed here to begin in mid-November, when it elongates and begins to rotate. By the end of November, the south pole is no longer located within the ozone hole.

Krueger, Arlin J.↗

Total ozone trends deduced from Nimbus 7 TOMS data

The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on the Nimbus 7 satellite has been measuring the total column amount of ozone over the globe for more than 11 years. Recent improvements in the data analysis have led to a technique for determining and removing drift in the calibration such that the data at the end of the record are precise to + or - 1.3 percent (2-sigma) relative to the data at the beginning of the record. A statistical model, including terms for seasonal variation, linear trend, quasi-biennial oscillation, solar cycle and second-order autoregressive noise has been fit to the TOMS time series of total ozone data. The linear trend obtained when this statistical model is fit to the TOMS data averaged between 65 N and 65 S latitudes is -0.26 + or - 0.14 percent/year or -3 percent over the 11.6 year time period from November 1978 to May 1990. The trend is near zero (0.0002 + or - 0.2 percent/year) at the equator and increases toward both poles.

Stolarski, Richard S.↗

The Application of TOMS Ozone, Aerosol and UV-B Data to Madagascar Air Quality Determination

Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data products for the area of Madagascar are presented. In addition to total ozone, aerosols and UV-B tropospheric ozone results are shown from 1979 to the present. Tropospheric ozone over Africa and Madagascar is enhanced by 10 to 15 DU in October. This maximum coincides with the time of maximum biomass area burning in Africa and Madagascar. Ozone observations were made from 1979 to 1999 using the TOMS tropospheric ozone convective cloud differential method. As a result of easterly trade winds, ozone originating on Madagascar is transported to the west over the Mozambique Channel. In El Nino years higher level westerly winds descend to transport low level ozone easterly. This results in African continental ozone being transported east of Madagascar. Long range transport of African ozone is observed during El Nino periods. The potential of TOMS and other space data for use in public education and research on Madagascar air quality is demonstrated.

Aikin, A.C.↗

Global Transport of Aerosol and CO: Initial 3-D Simulations of MAPS, TOMS, and AVHRR

Carbon monoxide concentrations and aerosol properties provide the tracers of global tropospheric perturbation by humankind that are most easily observed from satellite platforms. Aircraft field observations are additionally needed for us to simulate and understand the patterns observed. We report on our accumulating experience in making detailed, situation-specific, 3-D simulations of these tropospheric constituents as observed from the MAPS CO sensor, the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) aerosol scattering data, and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) absorbing-aerosol information. We have found a strong complimentarity of satellite and aircraft data in this effort, and recommend modelers use: (1) satellite data to pose initial questions; (2) aircraft data for modelers' first detailed simulations; and (3) a return to satellite data for global generalization. This work provides one example. Our main tools are the MM5 numerical model for meteorological assimilation and GRACES, our NASA Ames tracer-chemistry model, which incorporates emissions estimates. We report on several six-week simulations of global biomass burning effects as observed in the MAPS October 1994 dataset, and show the usefulness of two aircraft datasets, the TRACE-A (1992) and PEM-Tropics missions of NASA's Global Tropospheric Experiment. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Chatfield, Robert B.↗

Ozone Layer Observations

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been monitoring the ozone layer from space using optical remote sensing techniques since 1970. With concern over catalytic destruction of ozone (mid-1970s) and the development of the Antarctic ozone hole (mid-1980s), long term ozone monitoring has become the primary focus of NASA's series of ozone measuring instruments. A series of TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) and SBUV (Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet) instruments has produced a nearly continuous record of global ozone from 1979 to the present. These instruments infer ozone by measuring sunlight backscattered from the atmosphere in the ultraviolet through differential absorption. These measurements have documented a 15 Dobson Unit drop in global average ozone since 1980, and the declines in ozone in the antarctic each October have been far more dramatic. Instruments that measure the ozone vertical distribution, the SBUV and SAGE (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment) instruments for example, show that the largest changes are occurring in the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere. The goal of ozone measurement in the next decades will be to document the predicted recovery of the ozone layer as CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) levels decline. This will require a continuation of global measurements of total column ozone on a global basis, but using data from successor instruments to TOMS. Hyperspectral instruments capable of measuring in the UV will be needed for this purpose. Establishing the relative roles of chemistry and dynamics will require instruments to measure ozone in the troposphere and in the stratosphere with good vertical resolution. Instruments that can measure other chemicals important to ozone formation and destruction will also be needed.

McPeters, Richard↗

Analysis of stratospheric ozone, temperature, and minor constituent data

The objective of this research is to use available satellite measurements of temperature and constituent concentrations to test the conceptual picture of stratospheric chemistry and transport. This was originally broken down into two sub-goals: first, to use the constituent data to search for critical tests of our understanding of stratospheric chemistry and second, to examine constituent transport processes emphasizing interactions with chemistry on various time scales. A third important goal which has evolved is to use the available solar backscattered ultraviolet (SBUV) and Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data from Nimbus 7 to describe the morphology of recent changes in Antarctic and global ozone with emphasis on searching for constraints to theories. The major effort now being pursued relative to the two original goals is our effort as a theoretical team for the Arctic Airborne Stratospheric Expedition (AASE). Our effort for the AASE is based on the 3D transport and chemistry model at Goddard. Our goal is to use this model to place the results from the mission data in a regional and global context. Specifically, we set out to make model runs starting in late December and running through March of 1989, both with and without heterogeneous chemistry. The transport is to be carried out using dynamical fields from a 4D data assimilation model being developed under separate funding from this task. We have successfully carried out a series of single constituent transport experiments. One of the things demonstrated by these runs was the difficulty in obtaining observed low N2O abundances in the vortex without simultaneously obtaining very high ozone values. Because the runs start in late December, this difficulty arises in the attempt to define consistent initial conditions for the 3D model. To accomplish a consistent set of initial conditions, we are using the 2D photochemistry-transport model of Jackman and Douglass and mapping in potential temperature, potential vorticity space as developed by Schoeberl and coworkers.

Stolarski, Richard S.↗

TOMS: The Antarctic ozone hole and ozone trends

The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument aboard Nimbus 7 has proved invaluable for the investigation of the recent rapid decline in the springtime total ozone over the Antarctic. The principle problem discussed is that of observing the atmosphere over long periods of time to determine whether or not trends and/or slow oscillations are taking place. Total ozone is an excellent summary parameter for the state of the stratosphere. It responds to temperature changes, and in the long term, is expected to respond to chemical changes. Thus, when changes take place in total ozone, such as the springtime Antarctic decrease it is a clear indication of an important problem, both because of environmental potential and scientific importance. TOMS is actually an overkill for this problem. Significantly more data is taken than is necessary. Tests have shown that maps produced on a 2 by 4 degree grid are essentially equivalent to those produced from the entire gridded data set. Because the critical aspect of the search for changes in ozone is continuous data, reflight of a polar orbiting TOMS is important. Included in the flight should be a stratospheric temperature sensor and, if possible, a modification to obtain some ozone altitude information. A critical aspect of the problem is timeliness of the data. This is the only drawback of the existing TOMS. It is expected that in the very near future the processing will be done within two weeks of real time. This is critical to the process of discovery of phenomena such as the Antarctic ozone hole.

Stolarski, Richard S.↗

The Arctic tropopause fold

Analyses of research-aircraft observations, satellite total-columnar-ozone retrievals, and synoptic upper-air soundings are used to describe the structure of Arctic jetstreams and their associated frontal zones and tropopause folds. These analyses document the presence of major tropopause folding events within the Arctic that occur at the flanks of large-scale (about 2000 km) polar vortices. One example shows a solar vortex and its associated tropopause fold and Arctic front that migrated from the high Canadian Arctic southward into midlatitudes over central North America. Total columnar ozone measurements from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer are shown to identify the location of polar vortices and the mesoscale (about 200 km) ozone gradients at the flanks of these vortices, which coincide with regions of Arctic tropopause folding and associated stratospheric-tropospheric exchange processes.

Shapiro, M. A.↗

TOMS as a monitor of the ultraviolet radiation environment: Applications to photobiology

The flux of biologically relevant ultraviolet radiation that reaches the surface of the Earth varies with the ozone amount, surface reflectivity, and cloudcover. The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) provides information relevant to all three items. A recent application of satellite-based ozone measurements has been to develop climatologies of the biologically significant UV-B radiation reaching the Earth's surface. A growing body of research suggests that UV-B radiation tends to suppress the immune system of laboratory mice. At tropical latitudes, it is likely that parasitical diseases develop most readily in people who have experienced immune system suppression from UV-B exposure. The computed distribution of surface radiation combined with information on disease incidence may clarify the role of UV-B as a suppressor of the human immune system. TOMS used in conjunction with radiative transfer calculations can provide information of relevance in photobiology.

Frederick, John E.↗

Atmospheric Ozone Response to the Disrupted 2015-2016 Quasi-Biennial Oscillation

The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) - a quasi-periodic alternation between easterly and westerly zonal winds in the tropical stratosphere - is a main driver of inter-annual ozone variability in the stratosphere. During the late-2015 through 2016 time period, the QBO experienced a major disruption unlike any observed since wind measurements began in 1953. We examined the ozone response to this QBO disruption using profile ozone measurements from the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Limb Profiler and total column measurements from the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV) Merged Ozone Data Set (MOD). Positive anomalies in stratospheric equatorial O3 developed between 50 and 30 hPa in May-September of 2016, and negative ozone anomalies were observed in the subtropics of both hemispheres. As a consequence of this QBO disruption, extratropical total ozone values during the spring-summer 2016 were at or near seasonal record lows over the more than 40 years of the total ozone record, resulting in an increase of surface UV index during northern hemisphere summer. We found very consistent responses in all considered ozone observations in terms of time, amplitude and spatial patterns. We will show the ozone changes associated with this disrupted QBO throughout the winter and spring 2017.

Kramarova, N. A.↗

TOMS observations of total ozone in the 1986 Antarctic spring

Total ozone measurements by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) aboard the Nimbus 7 satellite show the reappearance in 1986 of the extreme springtime Antarctic ozone minimum during September and October.The minimum total ozone amounts descended to 156 Dobson Units; the minimum October average of 185 DU was 27 DU higher than the corresponding average in 1985 and 5 DU less than the 1984 average. This behavior indicates a pause in the downward trend of recent years.

Krueger, A. J.↗