Study of the variability of vertical ozone distribution in the atmosphere based on measurements of outgoing thermal IR radiation from satellites "Meteor-M" No.2

In recent decades, the global issue of climate change—caused primarily by changes in the composition of the atmosphere—has become one of the key challenges facing the future of life on Earth. Alongside the impact of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane on the climate, atmospheric ozone also has a significant effect on the thermal balance of the atmosphere. However, at present, the ability to obtain data on ozone, in particular its vertical distribution in polar regions (the Arctic and Antarctic), is limited. Specialised ozone monitoring instruments such as OMI and TROPOMI are only able to obtain ozone data in the presence of solar radiation.

This work presents a comprehensive study of the variability of the vertical ozone distribution based on the spectra of outgoing thermal IR radiation measured by the Russian IKFS-2 instrument. This remote sensing method allows for the monitoring of atmospheric ozone content without the aforementioned limitation, enabling a focus primarily on Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The retrieved profiles were validated by comparison with ozonesonde measurements, and the data are in good agreement. Using data from 2020, a year in which strong ozone anomalies were observed in the Arctic, we demonstrate that our method for determining the vertical distribution of ozone from IKFS-2 spectra can be used to detect anomalies in ozone depletion during the winter-spring period. We could observe a significant decrease in ozone content at altitudes above 100 hPa compared with the monthly average profile.

This research was funded by Saint-Petersburg State University for a research project 124032000025-1.