Observations of stratospheric ozone above Ny-Ålesund in the Arctic, 2010–2011

Stratosphere ozone depletion above the Arctic region has drawn increased attention recently. Here we present stratospheric ozone column densities above Ny-Ålesund in the Arctic during summer 2010 and 2011, based on a self-developed passive differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) technique. By analyzing the received scattered solar spectrum, daily variations of ozone vertical column densities (VCDs) were obtained and correlated with satellite-borne ozone monitoring results and ozone sonde data. The comparisons showed good correlation, confirming the feasibility of DOAS in high-latitude Arctic regions. The preliminary analysis also demonstrated that abnormal low-level ozone columns found in spring 2011 had negative impacts on total ozone column densities over the entire year. The loss of stratospheric ozone may be correlated with low stratospheric temperatures, where heterogeneous atmospheric reactions were active