Fine‐scale study of a thick stratospheric ozone lamina at the edge of the southern subtropical barrier

Abstract

A large‐scale transport event resulting in a thick ozone lamina originating from midlatitudes is observed in the tropical stratosphere over Reunion island (55°E, 21°S). This isentropic transport was detected from stratospheric balloon‐borne ozone measurements that showed the occurrence of the lamina and was investigated using different tools based on Ertel's potential vorticity (Epv) analyses. An original software (DYBAL) using surface coordinate and the equivalent length of Epv contours as diagnostic tools in conjunction with high‐resolution outputs from an Epv advection model MIMOSA allows us to specify the origin of the lamina. The results indicate that a broad layer of stratospheric air was isentropically advected from midlatitudes across the southern edge of tropical reservoir and reached Reunion island on 12 July 2000. In addition, Eliassen‐Palm's flux vectors, calculated from ECMWF analysis, show that planetary wave activity was quite large during that time period, with wave‐breaking occurring around 30 km, and could have driven that exchange. In contrast with analyses of filamentation events based on model and satellite data, the present study focuses on a fine‐scale vertical survey from in situ measurements. The filament reported in this paper is characterized by a large vertical extension and is located around the maximum of ozone concentration in the tropical stratosphere (600 K). The analysis of such events, poorly documented in the tropics, could complement satellite studies and contribute to a better determination of the transport between the tropics and the midlatitudes.