Lamination in ozone profiles in the lower stratosphere

Abstract

A survey of the distribution and scale of layers of enhanced and depleted ozone in the lower stratosphere was conducted over the altitude range 9.5–21.5 km using data recorded by balloon-borne sondes released at various sites around the world. The results show clearly that lamination is primarily a winter-spring phenomenon from subtropical to polar regions in both hemispheres, and seems to be linked to the presence of the polar vortex. A peak altitude of occurrence was found near 14 km. The interannual fluctuations in lamina abundance were found to be extremely large, varying at high latitudes by as much as a factor of three. Both the mean vertical thickness of the laminae and the associated rise or fall in ozone partial pressure within them vary progressively with latitude, season and altitude.