Science Update: Sensitivity of stratospheric dynamics to uncertainty in ozone production

A recent JGR article by J. Hsu and co-authors uses the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model to evaluate the sensitivity of stratospheric dynamics to the uncertainty in ozone production related to uncertainty in O2 cross-sections in the Hertzberg Continuum. Reducing the O2 cross-sections by 30% is found to increase ozone abundances in the lower stratosphere, which as a result warms between 60°S -60°N (2K maximum at the equator) and lowers the tropopause height by 100-200m between 30°S -30°N. The study points to the important role of ozone in the lower tropical stratosphere in determining the physical characteristics of the tropical tropopause layer. The full abstract can be found here.