Spatiotemporal Variations in the Relationship between Total Ozone and Meteorological factors in the Antarctic Stratosphere

We investigated the characteristics of the stratospheric ozone over Antarctica compared with meteorological factors. For this analysis, we used satellite Total ozone column (TOC) measurements of Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) during 1979-2018. Additionally, vertical ozone profiles from Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) were used during 2004-2018. For the same period, meteorology (air temperature, potential vorticity and wind field) data were obtained from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) atmospheric reanalysis (ERA5). Long-term patterns of TOC showed regional (i.e., latitudinal and longitudinal) difference of seasonal variation. It seemed that stratospheric ozone depletion during austral spring around West Antarctica happens more severe compared to East Antarctica, especially close to the mid-latitude. The TOC patterns over Antarctica correlated well with temperature in austral spring but they also showed vertical differences. The correlation coefficients between TOC and temperature were highly positive in the lower stratosphere, because the polar stratospheric clouds which contribute to ozone depletion are well formed in the low temperature. Otherwise, the negative correlations between TOC and temperature appeared in the upper stratosphere probably due to the . Additionally, the strength of correlations was varied by the region and month. TOC also showed a significant relationship to the potential vorticity. The high positive correlation appeared in the upper stratosphere during the austral spring, but it decreased moderately below 500K height and showed weak negative correlation around 300-400K height. Since the potential vorticity values can determine the edge of polar vortex, these results reflect the effects of the presence of polar vortex on the stratospheric ozone and the weakening of this relationship at the polar tropopause. These findings indicate a large meteorological influence on the spatiotemporal pattern of the TOC over Antarctica.