Abstract
Photochemical models1–3 predict a considerable variation in ozone concentration between day and night in the mesosphere. To investigate this, four Petrel rockets were flown from South Uist (57°22′N, 7°22′W) on 2 October 1979. Ozone was measured by observing the atmospheric attenuation of a narrow band of UV radiation, using interference filters to define a bandwidth of ∼10 nm. The rockets were launched (1) at moon-set, 02.00h, (2) at sunrise, 06.00h, (3) at 09.30h and (4) at 15.30h; round 1 observing moonlight and the other three observing sunlight. The first two used the occultation technique4 and contained two photometers with wavebands centred around 265 and 290 nm (Fig. 1), giving ozone information from 48 to 95 km. For rounds 3 and 4 the Sun was at a zenith angle of 70°, and a single waveband centred around 265 nm gave a height range of 44 to 64 km. Full details of the experiment will be published elsewhere. The first three rounds were successful, but the fourth did not give good data because the rocket nosecone failed to clear the field of view. The results show significant diurnal variation above 54km, which exceeds a factor of 2 above 65 km and reaches a factor of 10 between night time and sunrise at 90 km.
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Vaughan, G. Diurnal variation of mesospheric ozone. Nature 296, 133–135 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/296133a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/296133a0
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