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Record-low ozone column densities (with a minimum of 212 DU) persisted over three weeks at the Río Gallegos NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) station (51.5° S, 69.3° W) in November 2009. Total ozone remained two standard deviations below the climatological mean for five consecutive days during this period. The statistical analysis of 30 years of satellite data from the Multi Sensor Reanalysis (MSR) database for Río Gallegos revealed that such a long-lasting low-ozone episode is a rare occurrence. The event is examined using height-resolved ozone lidar measurements at Río Gallegos, and observations from satellite and ground-based instruments. The computed relative difference between the measured total ozone and the climatological monthly mean shows reductions varying between 10 and 30% with an average decrease of 25%. The mean absolute difference of total ozone column with respect to climatological monthly mean ozone column is around 75 DU. Extreme values of the UV index (UVI) were measured at the ground for this period, with the daily maximum UVI of around 13 on 15 and 28 November. The high-resolution MIMOSA-CHIM (Modélisation Isentrope du transport Méso-échelle de l'Ozone Stratosphérique par Advection) model was used to interpret the ozone depletion event. An ozone decrease of about 2 ppmv was observed in mid-November at the 550 K isentropic level (~22 km). The position of Río Gallegos relative to the polar vortex was classified using equivalent latitude maps. During the second week of November, the vortex was over the station at all isentropic levels, but after 20 November and until the end of the month, only the 10 lower levels in the stratosphere were affected by vortex overpasses with ozone poor air masses. A rapid recovery of the ozone column density was observed later, due to an ozone rich filament moving over Río Gallegos between 18 and 24 km in the first two weeks of December 2009.

The validation of ozone profiles retrieved by satellite instruments through comparison with data from ground-based instruments is important to monitor the evolution of the satellite instrument, to assist algorithm development and to allow multi-mission trend analyses. In this study we compare ozone profiles derived from GOMOS night-time observations with measurements from lidar, microwave radiometer and balloon sonde. Collocated pairs are analysed for dependence on several geophysical and instrument observational parameters. Validation results are presented for the operational ESA level 2 data (GOMOS version 5.00) obtained during nearly seven years of observations and a comparison using a smaller dataset from the previous processor (version 4.02) is also included. The profiles obtained from dark limb measurements (solar zenith angle >107°) when the provided processing flag is properly considered match the ground-based measurements within ±2 percent over the altitude range 20 to 40 km. Outside this range, the pairs start to deviate more and there is a latitudinal dependence: in the polar region where there is a higher amount of straylight contamination, differences start to occur lower in the mesosphere than in the tropics, whereas for the lower part of the stratosphere the opposite happens: the profiles in the tropics reach less far down as the signal reduces faster because of the higher altitude at which the maximum ozone concentration is found compared to the mid and polar latitudes. Also the bias is shifting from mostly negative in the polar region to more positive in the tropics Profiles measured under "twilight" conditions are often matching the ground-based measurements very well, but care has to be taken in all cases when dealing with "straylight" contaminated profiles. For the selection criteria applied here (data within 800 km, 3 degrees in equivalent latitude, 20 h (5 h above 50 km) and a relative ozone error in the GOMOS data of 20% or less), no dependence was found on stellar magnitude, star temperature, nor the azimuth angle of the line of sight. No evidence of a temporal trend was seen either in the bias or frequency of outliers, but a comparison applying less strict data selection criteria might show differently.

As part of environmental studies concerned with measurements of the stratospheric ozone layer, CEILAP has developed a new differential absorption lidar (DIAL) instrument. Since the initial construction of the first DIAL instrument, the Lidar Division of CEILAP has made important financial and scientific investments to upgrade this initial prototype. The new version has a bigger reception system formed by four Newtonian telescopes, each of 50 cm diameter, and a larger number of detection channels: four different wavelengths are detected simultaneously and six digital channels record the Rayleigh and Raman backscattered photons emitted by a ClXe excimer laser at 308 nm and the third harmonic of a Nd-YAG laser at 355 nm. A number of different changes have been made to increase the dynamic range of this lidar: a mechanical chopper was installed together with a gated photomultiplier in the high-energy detection channels to avoid the detector being overloaded by strong signals from lower atmospheric layers. This new version was installed inside a shelter, giving the possibility to make field campaigns outside CEILAP laboratories, for example the SOLAR campaign made in the Argentine Patagonian region during 2005 and 2006 spring periods. In this paper a full description of the instrument update is given. Intercomparisons with the ozone sonde and satellite platform instrument are presented. The results show agreement better than 10% in 16-38 km altitude range when the same airmasses are sampled. The comparison with five quasi-coincident sondes launched in Punta Arenas during spring 2005 shows good agreement between both types of measurement, with relative differences inside 1s deviation of the lidar measurement. The comparison of the integral of height integrated lidar profiles with total ozone column measured with a Brewer photometer shows good agreement, with relative differences less than 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]