The Relationship between tropospheric ozone concentration and atmospheric transport over Syowa Station, Antarctica

Abstract

Aircraft measurements of the tropospheric O_3 concentration were made over Syowa Station, Antarctica from May 1989 to January 1990,except during the polar night months of June and July. The O_3 concentration increased with height for the whole period of the measurements. Lower tropospheric O_3 concentration showed a prominent seasonal variation with maximum concentration in winter and minimum in summer, which is very close to the result of continuous O_3 measurements at Syowa Station. In the upper troposphere, the concentration reached high values in winter, decreased gradually from September to early November and then increased again. As a result, the height-dependent difference of the concentration was reduced from late fall to early spring and enhanced in the remaining seasons of the year. From these results, it is hypothesized that the seasonal variation of height-dependent atmospheric transport processes could influence that of the tropospheric O_3 concentration over Syowa Station.