WINTER 2002/03 ABOVE NORTHERN SCANDINAVIA SEEN BY THE ALOMAR OZONE DIAL: OZONE MINI-HOLES AND STRONG PSC'S

摘要

During the Vintersol winter 2002/03 the Arctic stratospheric vortex built up early and extremely low stratospheric temperatures were reached in December 2002. From the start of the PSC season and throughout December synoptic scale polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) were observed with the ozone DIAL at ALOMAR (69.28°N, 16.01°E). As in winter 1995/96 (but 5 weeks earlier), this early intense phase of the stratospheric winter was characterized by an offset of the cold-air pool towards the European North Atlantic sector, combined with a strong anti-cyclone over Northern Scandinavia. This situation provided excellent observation conditions at the ALOMAR facility in North-Norway, resulting in a comprehensive lidar data set on stratospheric ozone, temperatures and PSCs. The unusual meteorological situation also led to the formation of several ozone mini-holes in the end of 2002, including the lowest total ozone column observed at this site (219 DU). Here, we present a short overview of all PSCs seen by our lidar and an analysis of the PSC and ozone data set collected during winter 2002/03.