Variations of Arctic winter ozone from the LIMS Level 3 dataset

Abstract. The Nimbus 7 limb infrared monitor of the stratosphere (LIMS) instrument operated from October 25, 1978, through May 28, 1979. Its Version 6 (V6) profiles and their Level 3 or zonal Fourier coefficient products have been characterized and archived in 2008 and in 2011, respectively. This paper focuses on the value and use of daily ozone maps from Level 3, based on a gridding of its zonal coefficients. We present maps of V6 ozone on pressure surfaces and compare them with several rocket-borne chemiluminescent ozone measurements that extend into the lower mesosphere. Daily, synoptic maps of V6 ozone and temperature illustrate that they are an important aid in interpreting satellite limb-infrared emission versus local measurements, especially when they occur during dynamically active periods of northern hemisphere winter. We then show a sequence of V6 maps of upper stratospheric ozone, spanning the minor stratospheric warmings of late January and early February 1979. The map sequence of V6 geopotential height reveals how ozone was changing in the vortex and at the centers of adjacent anticyclones. We also report on zonal variations of the tertiary ozone maximum of the upper mesosphere and its associated temperature fields during winter. These several examples provide a guide to researchers for further exploratory analyses of middle atmosphere ozone from LIMS.