Planetary Wave Oscillations Observed in Ozone from Troll Station Antartica

Abstract

This thesis investigates the possibility of tracing planetary waves with ozone. The mixing ratio of ozone is sensitive to variations of its environment introduced by waves due to its short chemical lifetime. Ground-based millimetre-wave remote sensing of the 249.6 ozone line deep within the Antarctic vortex at Troll station (72°S, 2°E) have been used to retrieval vertical ozone mixing ratio profiles below 100 km by the use of the optimal estimation method. Calculations cover data from December 2008 until November 2009 with a spectra resolution of 1 hour and an altitude resolution of 8 km. Fluctuations of the ozone mixing ratio where separated from seasonal variations. Spectral analysis were done by Lomb-Scargle analysis and a Morlet wavelet transform for altitudes between 35 and 75 km. Wave activity consistent with models and other measurements of planetary waves was found. Periodic bands of 1.7-4, 4-8 and 8-16 days were extracted and could basically be related to the quasi two-day wave and the first three normal planetary modes. In addition consistence to wave activity extracted from meteor radar wind measurements at Senae could be shown.