Tropospheric ozone at the Swedish mountain site Åreskutan : Budget and trends

Abstract

Ozone measurements, performed since 1987, at the Swedish TOR/EUROTRACstation Areskutan (lat. 63.4° N, long. 13.1° E, 1250 m abovesea level) are analyzed. The annual average ozone concentration at the sitehas increased by about 0.4 ppbv (∼1%) per year during the period1987–1994. The corresponding trends for individual months show adecrease during April–September and an increase during the rest of theyear. The ozone budget at Areskutan has been investigated using backtrajectories of the air parcels, and the cosmogenic radionuclide7Be as a tracer of stratospheric air. From a simple diagnosticmodel, it is estimated that the contribution of stratospheric ozone to theconcentrations measured at Areskutan is 5 ppbv (or 14% of themeasured values) on average, reaching a maximum of 23 ppbv (50%),during the episodes of direct stratospheric influence. In spring, thestratospheric contribution to ozone budget at Areskutan is at itsmaximum, and approximately equal to the net photochemical ozone productionin the air mass affecting the site, whereas in winter, it is compensated byozone chemical sink during the transport of air masses from pollutedEuropean regions, to Scandinavia.