Climatic variability of the column ozone over the Iranian plateau

This study analyzes the total ozone column (TOC) variability over the Iranian plateau (Esfahan) from 1978 to 2011. Results show that the annual average of TOC in Esfahan tends to decrease with time, which is strongly dependent on the season, with maximum values during the winter–spring months (more than 2.2 %/decade). By applying a defined threshold that includes the TOC monthly −2σ, it is found that the maximum occurrence of low ozone events (LOEs) tends to be more frequent in the second half of year with about four-fifth of the observed LOEs (last summer, autumn, and early winter). During two cases of LOE, the tropopause height (TH) was uplifted ~2–4 km with temperature of 10 °C colder than the long-term mean, and the synoptic pattern was characterized by high-pressure systems in UTLS region. The extreme LOEs were consistent with the horizontal transport of ozone-poor air toward the Iranian plateau and vertical advection in UTLS region. The former mechanism plays a primary role in formation of extreme LOEs based on the observed TOC reductions during previous days over the source regions (Sahara desert and Himalaya region). Day-to-day variations of maximum UV index during LOEs show that by a decrease in TOC ~14 %, while the aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the cloudless condition reach their lowest rates (lower than 0.3), UV radiation exceeds very high and extreme levels in late winter and mid-spring, respectively.