The impact of transported ozone-rich air on the atmospheric ozone content following the 26 January 2001 and 7 March 2006 Gujarat earthquakes

Abstract

The contribution of transport processes to the observed ozone concentration following the 26 January 2001 and 7 March 2006 earthquakes in the Kutch region of Gujarat is presented. The analysis of back trajectories at different altitudes and vertical pressure velocities at the tropopause indicated the transport of ozone-rich air from higher latitudes in the tropospheric and lower stratospheric regions apart from stratospheric intrusion of ozone into the troposphere along the path of the back trajectory and its transport to the epicentre during these earthquakes.

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges Indian Space Research Organization for funding the work under the CAWSES India Project. TOC data were obtained from the website: http://toms.gsfc.nasa.gov/eptoms/ep_v8.html.MSR images of assimilated total ozone were acquired from Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service. The 5-day back trajectories at different pressure levels were retrieved from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. The vertical pressure velocities were retrieved from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. Library facilities were provided by Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India. General features of earthquakes such as the depth of focus from the earth's surface and magnitude of the earthquake have been obtained from the website of United States Geological Survey (USGS).