Episode of unusual high solar ultraviolet radiation in central Europe due to dynamical reduced stratospheric ozone in May 2005

C. Stick (1) , K. Krüger (2) , N. H. Schade (1) , H. Sandmann (1) , A. Macke (3)

1 Institut für Medizinische Klimatologie an der Universität Kiel
2 AWI - Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung = Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research = Institut Alfred-Wegener pour la recherche polaire et marine
3 IFM-GEOMAR - Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften

In late May this year unusual high levels of solar ultraviolet radiation were observed in Europe. In Northern Germany the measured irradiance of erythemally effective radiation exceeded the climatological mean by more than about 20%. An extreme low ozone event for the season coincided with the high solar elevation angles during late spring leading to the highest value of erythemal UV-radiation ever observed at this location in May. This ''ozone mini-hole'' was caused by an elevation of tropopause height accompanied with a poleward advection of natural low total ozone from the tropics. The resultant increase in UV-radiation is of particular significance for human health. Dynamically induced low ozone episodes that happen around the summer solstice can considerably enhance the solar UV-radiation in the mid latitudes and therefore contribute to the UV-burden of people living in the mid latitudes.

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère

C. Stick, K. Krüger, N. H. Schade, H. Sandmann, A. Macke. Episode of unusual high solar ultraviolet radiation in central Europe due to dynamical reduced stratospheric ozone in May 2005. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2005, 5 (5), pp.10409-10420. ⟨hal-00301872⟩