The anomalously small 2019 Antarctic ozone hole in an assimilation of
MLS observations with the GEOS Constituent Data Assimilation System
Abstract
A rare disturbance of the stratospheric Antarctic polar vortex in
September 2019 led to a significantly higher than usual polar total
ozone column. We use assimilation of ozone, HCl, and NO data from the
Microwave Limb Sounder with the Global Earth Observing System
Constituent Data Assimilation System driven by reanalysis meteorology to
study the evolution of the 2019 Antarctic polar ozone. We find that the
maximum 2019 ozone hole area was near 10 million km, and as little as
20% of that in 2018 in mid-September. However, the magnitude of
vortex-averaged chemical ozone depletion was not significantly different
between the two years despite earlier chlorine deactivation in 2019. The
assimilation results show that most of the differences between 2018 and
2019 Antarctic ozone resulted from two factors: (1) the geometry of the
2019 vortex, with ozone-rich middle-stratospheric air masses overlying
the lower portion of the vortex and leading to a significant reduction
of the total column; (2) significantly reduced vortex volume. The
anomalously small ozone hole of 2019 was comparable in size to the
record breaking 2002 case and the mechanisms responsible were similar in
the two cases. While the 2019 sudden stratospheric warming is classified
as minor, its impact on ozone was very significant.