Distributions of ozone in the region of the subtropical jet: An analysis of in situ aircraft measurements

Abstract

In situ measurements of ozone and meteorological fields from the NASA WB-57F and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Gulfstream IV airborne platforms in the region of the subtropical jet are investigated. The high resolution and precision of the aircraft measurements allow the ozone distribution to be examined on a wide range of spatial scales. Probability distribution functions (pdfs) of ozone, temperature, and wind speed are calculated in a coordinate system centered on the maximum jet wind speeds. There are significant differences in the pdfs near the jet maximum in winter versus spring seasons. The largest gradients in the ozone pdfs are seen at the location of the jet maximum in winter, whereas during spring the largest gradients are most often poleward of the jet by up to several thousand kilometers. These seasonal differences do not appear to be directly related to the strength of the jet on the basis of the limited geographical sampling of the airborne platforms. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.