The Responses of Ozone to the Solar Eclipse on the 21st of June 2020 in the Mesosphere and Upper Stratosphere

Abstract

Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) observations showed an obvious variation of ozone concentration during the annular solar eclipse on 21 June 2020 in the mesosphere and upper stratosphere. Ozone concentration slightly reduced near 40 km in the regions of 24°N–36°N, and increased in low latitudes at 40 km. In the heights of 45–60 km, the increase in ozone concentration in most of the regions was obvious. The ozone increases and decreases were more obvious between 60–65 km, where enhancement took the leading role. The nighttime ozone variation was weaker than the daytime in most of the heights of 30–65 km. The variation of HO2 and CO is investigated to study the photochemical and dynamical causes of ozone variation. As HO2 decreased at 1 hPa and increased at 60–65 km, ozone variation shows a mostly reversed relationship to HO2 variation. CO increased at 32–39 km and decreased at 52–60 km, which was related to the upwelling at these heights. The dynamic processes also contributed to the decrease in ozone concentration at 40 km and increase at 50–60 km.

Keywords

• solar eclipse
• ozone
• mesosphere