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Abstract

To evaluate the atmospheric ozone measurements of the Indian Ocean during the dry winter season from January to March, an analysis of ozone and its precursors has been made using the Model of Ozone and its Related Tracers ( MOZART-2), a global chemical transport model. The ozonesonde measurements were made on board the ship Sagar Kanya during the Indian Ocean Experiment 1999 (INDOEX-99), which covered the region from 11.3 degreesN to 20.2 degreesS and from 62.3 degreesE to 75.8 degreesE. These measurements reveal surface ozone values on the order of 20 - 50 ppb over the oceanic region and increasing concentrations in the midtroposphere in the range 50 - 100 ppb, followed by a steep gradient (> 120 ppb) near the tropopause. The model qualitatively reproduces most of the broad features observed in the ozonesonde measurements. The low value of O-3 over the ocean is characterized by the low concentration of NOx and CO as simulated by the model, but the relationship between O-3 and NOx breaks down toward the continent where NOx increases sharply and O-3 does not follow the steep gradient. The variation in CO from ocean to continent is closely related to the O-3 variation. The model reproduces the latitudinal variation of CO in this region well but underestimates the CO concentration by 30 - 50%, probably because of underestimated emission values. The latitudinal distribution of ozone over the marine boundary layer shows a decrease from north of the equator to the south as the CO-rich air from the continent spreads toward the ocean, thereby reflecting the inflow of pollutants to the pristine marine region during the dry winter season.