Summertime “ozone valley” over the Tibetan Plateau derived from ozonesondes and EP/TOMS data

Abstract

During the Asian summer monsoon period, total ozone over the Tibetan Plateau is much lower than that over the surrounding areas when compared at the same latitudes. This phenomenon called the “ozone valley” was investigated continuously with the use of ozonesondes and Earth Probe/Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (EP/TOMS). These measurements reveal that although relatively low ozone mixing ratios extend from the troposphere to the lower stratosphere, those near the tropopause (between about 150 and 70 hPa) largely contribute to lower total ozone over the Tibetan Plateau. Temperatures near the tropopause appear to be correlated with the observed ozone changes. Meteorological analyses show that this phenomenon is accompanied by the upper level monsoon anticyclone, which is characterized by deep convection over South Asia. These results suggest that lower ozone mixing ratios and colder temperatures near the tropopause are primarily due to convection, which is linked to the Asian summer monsoon.