Increased stratospheric ozone depletion due to mountain-induced atmospheric waves

Chemical reactions on polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) particles are responsible for the production of reactive chlorine species (chlorine ‘activation’) which cause ozone destruction1. Gas-phase deactivation of these chlorine species can take several weeks in the Arctic winter stratosphere, so that ozone destruction can be sustained even in air parcels that encounter PSCs only intermittently2,3. Chlorine activation during a PSC encounter proceeds much faster at low temperatures when cloud particle surface area and heterogeneous reaction rates are higher4. Although mountain-induced atmospheric gravity waves are known to cause local reductions in stratospheric temperature of as much as 10–15 K (5-9), and are often associated with mesoscale PSCs10,11,12, their effect on chlorine activation and ozone depletion has not been considered. Here we describe aircraft observations of mountain-wave-induced mesoscale PSCs in which temperatures were 12 K lower than expected synoptically. Model calculations show that despite their localized nature, these PSCs can cause almost complete conversion of inactive chlorine species to ozone-destroying forms in air flowing through the clouds. Using a global mountain-wave model8, we identify regions where mountain waves can develop, and show that they can cause frequent chlorine activation of air in the Arctic stratosphere. Such mesoscale processes offer a possible explanation for the underprediction of reactive chlorine concentrations and ozone depletion rates calculated by three-dimensional models of the Arctic stratosphere13,14,15,16,17.