Wave-like ozone movements

Abstract

The wave-like character of the total ozone variations is examined from the Aral Sea and Karaganda observatories in Middle Asia, and from Tromsø and Murmansk in the Arctic. The waves have a period of 10–20 days and an amplitude of about 20–50 DU. They are seen practically every year when the ozone data do not contain too many gaps. In Middle Asia waves with the same periods are found in geopotential height and tropopause pressure variations. The ozone waves are caused by dynamic meteorological disturbances near the tropopause. The passing of a wave crest in the pressure field causes the convergence of ozone poor air under the tropopause and the divergence of ozone rich air above the tropopause giving rise to a total ozone content decrease. The passing of a wave trough stimulates the opposite process. By crosscorrelation analysis the wave-like movement was determined as eastward for both pairs of stations with a velocity of 11–15 °/day.