Impact of zonal wind on latitudinal variation of total columnar ozone over the Indian Peninsula

Abstract

Latitudinal and seasonal variability of total columnar ozone from September 2007 to August 2008 across the Indian longitude sector within 10.5° N to 34.5° N and 70.5° E to 94.5° E using satellite data obtained from Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) is presented. The total column ozone (TCO) over the area of study shows a gradually varying pattern throughout the year. In the post-monsoon (autumn) and winter months, maximum TCO is observed in the north-western part of the subcontinent while the minimum is often observed towards the east at about the same latitudes. A west–east spatial gradient is clearly observed in autumn months. As winter approaches, a north–south spatial gradient becomes more prominent than the east–west gradient. It has been further observed that TCO does not vary significantly over the entire subcontinent in monsoon.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the NASA TOMS Ozone possessing Team for providing the ozone data over the region of study, also to NOAA for providing the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data composites. Gayatry Kalita and Binita Pathak express their gratitude to Indian Space Research Organization for providing them research fellowships under the ISRO GBP ARFI project.