Abstract
Ozone absorbs harmful UV rays at high elevations but acts as a pollutant gas in the lower atmosphere. It is necessary to monitor both the vertical profile and the total column ozone. In this study, variations in the ozone concentration of Pohang were divided into three vertical layers: the stratospheric layer (STL), the second ozone peak layer (SOPL), and the tropospheric layer (TRL). Our results indicated that the ozone concentration in the STL, SOPL, TRL, and total column ozone increased by 0.45%, 2.64%, 5.26%, and 1.07% decade−1, respectively. The increase in the SOPL during springtime indicates that stratosphere–troposphere exchange is accelerating, while the increase during summertime appears to have been influenced by the lower layers. The growth of tropospheric ozone concentration is the result of both increased ozone precursors from industrialization in East Asia and the influx of stratospheric ozone. Our results reaffirmed the trend of ozone concentration in mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere from vertical profiles in Pohang and, in particular, suggests that the recent changes of ozone in this region need to be carefully monitored.
Highlights
Ozone is a gas that plays a crucial role in the thermal and chemical balance of Earth’s atmosphere.Stratospheric ozone, which accounts for approximately 90% of the earth’s atmospheric ozone, absorbs the sun’s harmful UV rays, thereby protecting humans and ecosystems
The ozone variations in the mid-latitude region of the northern hemisphere were examined through the vertical ozone observation data of Pohang after the regulation of CFC-11 emissions was enforced by the Montreal Protocol
The observed vertical ozone was divided into three layers—the stratospheric layer (STL), second ozone peak layer (SOPL), and the tropospheric layer (TRL)—and variations in the ozone concentrations of these layers were observed from 1997 to 2017
Summary
Ozone is a gas that plays a crucial role in the thermal and chemical balance of Earth’s atmosphere.Stratospheric ozone, which accounts for approximately 90% of the earth’s atmospheric ozone, absorbs the sun’s harmful UV rays, thereby protecting humans and ecosystems. The amount of stratospheric ozone declined sharply due to the indiscriminate use of ozone-depleting substances containing halogens until the Montreal Protocol was adopted in 1987. The Montreal Protocol implemented strong measures to limit the use of ozone-depleting substances globally, and many studies have reported that stratospheric column ozone began increasing again after the mid-1990s [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Recent reports indicate that the global emission of CFC-11, an ozone-depleting compound, has increased in recent years [11,12,13], especially in eastern mainland China (provinces of Anhui, Beijing, Hebei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Zhejiang) [11]. The ozone concentration downwind of China needs to be closely monitored to investigate the effect of increased CFC-11 emissions on ozone concentration
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