A Study on the Planetary Wave Transport of Ozone during the Late February 1979 Stratospheric Warming Using the SAGE Ozone Observation and Meteorological Information

Abstract

Ozone data from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) have been used in conjunction with meteorological information to study the ozone transport near 55°N due to planetary waves during the late February 1979 stratospheric warming. The results indicate an intense poleward eddy ozone transport in the middle stratosphere between ?24 and 38 km altitudes and an equatorward transport above an altitude of ?38 km. It is found that this equatorward eddy ozone transport in the upper stratosphere was accompanied by a poleward eddy heat transport, as expected on the basis of the ozone photochemistry. The results also show an equatorward eddy ozone transport in the lower stratosphere (below ?25 km), but it is secondary. The transport effect of wavenumber 2 can account for a major portion of the net eddy ozone flux during this late February 1979 warming. The phase relationship between temperature, meridional velocity and ozone mixing ratio waves has also been examined. Overall, the results agree qualitatively with existing model analyses. In the lower stratosphere, the temperature and ozone waves are found to be nearly in-phase. They are approximately out-of-phase in the upper stratosphere. A transition region is shown in between. However, this transition region is thinner and centered at a slightly lower altitude than that predicted in the model analyses of Hartmann and Garcia, Kawahira and those reported by Gille et al. The reason for this difference is discussed.