Ozone destruction by chlorine radicals within the Antarctic vortex: the spatial and temporal evolution of ClO-O₃ anticorrelation based on in situ ER-2 data

Initial conditions are characterized at aircraft flight altitude (18km) by highly amplified ClO mixing ratios (800 parts per trillion by volume (pptv)) within a well-defined "chemically perturbed region' (CPR) poleward of the circumpolar jet, within which zone exhibits limited erosion (~15%) in middle to late August. Within the CPR, ozone decays consistently throughout the course of a 10-flight series, such that by late September, 75% of the O₃ has disappeared within the region of highly amplified ClO concentrations (which reached 500 times normal levels at ER-2 cruise altitude). As this ozone depletion develops, O₃ and ClO exhibit dramatic negative correlation on isentropic surfaces. -from Authors