Evolution of ozone and ozone‐related species over Kiruna during the SOLVE/THESEO 2000 campaign retrieved from ground‐based millimeter‐wave and infrared observations

Abstract

Vertical profiles of stratospheric ozone and ozone‐related trace gases were measured in winter 1999/2000 using the ground‐based millimeter‐wave radiometer MIRA 2 and a Fourier‐transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) located at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics at Kiruna. The MIRA 2 measurements covered all three SOLVE/THESEO 2000 flight phases. An almost complete time series of O3 profiles and complementary profiles of ClO, HNO3, and N2O were achieved. Profiles of O3, HCl, HNO3, and N2O, as well as stratospheric column amounts of NO2, ClONO2, and ClO, were obtained from the continuous ground‐based FTIR measurements between January and March 2000. From the measurements of N2O and HF, a diabatic subsidence inside the polar vortex of about 1.2 km between January and March for altitudes of about 20 km was deduced. On 26 and 28 January, an uptake of about 25% of stratospheric HNO3 by polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) could be measured and between January and March, an significant denitrification of the lower stratosphere was derived from the measurements. Strong chlorine activation was detected by both instruments in January and March, resulting in an ozone loss of more than 1 ppmv in a layer below 23 km. In comparison to recent cold winters, this layer was found to be quite thin. Therefore the total loss measured in column amount of (1.2–1.4) × 1022 molec/m2 was smaller than the losses in previous cold winters.