Speaker
Description
The ozone layer is a protective layer of gas in the stratosphere between 15 and 35km that absorbs most harmful solar UV radiation before it reaches the Earth’s surface. In the 1970s, it was discovered that reactive inorganic chlorine gases in the stratosphere catalyze ozone depletion in the springtime. In response, the use of industrial chlorine sources has been phased out by the 1987 Montreal Protocol and its subsequent amendments, allowing ozone recovery to begin. A significant amount of inorganic chlorine remains in the atmosphere in the form of inert “reservoir” species (e.g. HCl, ClONO2, and HOCl) and reactive “radical” species (e.g. ClO and Cl). These gases make up the total inorganic chlorine chemical family, Cly. The extent of Cly’s impact on ozone in any given year is heavily influenced by how the total amount of inorganic chlorine is “partitioned”, or divided, between these radical and reservoir species. Therefore, climate models must be able to simulate chlorine partitioning accurately in order to predict the recovery of the ozone layer. To this end, we use a combination of spectroscopic satellite measurements to investigate the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model’s ability to capture chlorine partitioning and ozone depletion. This type of assessment provides insight into the model’s strengths and limitations, which is crucial for future model improvements and model-based studies on the evolution of ozone layer recovery.
| Category | Meteorology / Atmospheric Physics |
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