COVID-19 crisis reduces free tropospheric ozone across the northern hemisphere


Contact
Peter.von.der.Gathen [ at ] awi.de

Abstract

Throughout spring and summer 2020, ozone stations in the northern extratropics recorded unusually low ozone in the free troposphere. From April to August, and from 1 to 8 kilometers altitude, ozone was on average 7% (≈4 nmol/mol) below the 2000 to 2020 climatological mean. Such low ozone, over several months, and at so many stations, has not been observed in any previous year since at least 2000. Atmospheric composition analyses from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and simulations from the NASA GMI model indicate that the large 2020 springtime ozone depletion in the Arctic stratosphere contributed less than one quarter of the observed tropospheric anomaly. The observed anomaly is consistent with recent chemistry-climate model simulations, which assume emissions reductions similar to those caused by the COVID-19 crisis. COVID-19 related emissions reductions appear to be the major cause for the observed reduced free tropospheric ozone in 2020.



Item Type
Article
Authors
Divisions
Primary Division
Programs
Primary Topic
Publication Status
Published
Eprint ID
53609
DOI 10.1029/2020GL091987

Cite as
Steinbrecht, W. , Kubistin, D. , Plass-Dülmer, C. , Davies, J. , Tarasick, D. W. , von der Gathen, P. , Deckelmann, H. , Jepsen, N. , Kivi, R. , Lyall, N. , Palm, M. , Notholt, J. , Kois, B. , Oelsner, P. , Allaart, M. , Piters, A. , Gill, M. , Van Malderen, R. , Delcloo, A. W. , Sussmann, R. , Mahieu, E. , Servais, C. , Romanens, G. , Stübi, R. , Ancellet, G. , Godin-Beekmann, S. , Yamanouchi, S. , Strong, K. , Johnson, B. , Cullis, P. , Petropavlovskikh, I. , Hannigan, J. W. , Hernandez, J. L. , Rodriguez, A. D. , Nakano, T. , Chouza, F. , Leblanc, T. , Torres, C. , Garcia, O. , Röhling, A. N. , Schneider, M. , Blumenstock, T. , Tully, M. , Paton-Walsh, C. , Jones, N. , Querel, R. , Strahan, S. , Stauffer, R. M. , Thompson, A. M. , Inness, A. , Engelen, R. , Chang, K. L. and Cooper, O. R. (2021): COVID-19 crisis reduces free tropospheric ozone across the northern hemisphere , Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (5) . doi: 10.1029/2020GL091987


Download
[thumbnail of 2020GL091987.pdf]
Preview
PDF
2020GL091987.pdf

Download (615kB) | Preview

Share
Add to AnyAdd to TwitterAdd to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to PinterestAdd to Email


Citation

Geographical region

Research Platforms

Campaigns
N/A


Actions
Edit Item Edit Item