RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOTAL OZONE AMOUNTS AND STRATOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE AT SYOWA, ANTARCTICA

Using statistical methods, the relationship has been studied between total ozone and 100-mbar temperatures at Syowa Station, Antarctica (69-degrees-S, 40-degrees-E), based on data obtained in 1961-1981 and 1982-1988, the time of ozone depletion in Antarctica. Results indicate a strong, positive correlation between total ozone and 100-mbar stratospheric temperatures during September-March for all years, but lower ozone values at 100-mbar stratospheric temperatures colder than about -60-degrees-C during the 1982-1988 period. Ozone destruction by heterogeneous photochemical processes is the main cause of ozone depletion over Syowa during the 1980's, with a lesser contribution from a change in air dynamics (heat, ozone, and momentum transport to Antarctica during the austral spring) that increased polar vortex stability, thereby promoting photochemical ozone depression within the vortex.