The origin of ozone in the troposphere

Examination of the distribution of tropospheric ozone indicates that surface destruction in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) should be about three times larger than in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). If, according to the traditional understanding of ozone, this species were a passive tracer in the troposphere, a threefold larger flux out of the stratosphere should exist in the NH than in the SH. However, meteorological analyses fail to support such pronounced hemispheric differences in stratosphere–troposphere exchange. Alternatively, therefore, we hypothesise that photochemical synthesis of ozone in the troposphere may be particularly important in the NH because of asymmetries in the sources and distribution of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitric oxide.

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