Rocket Measurements of the Vertical Structure of the Ozone Field in the Tropics

Summary

A rocket ozone programme was initiated at the Physical Research Laboratory to study the height distribution of ozone in the tropical atmosphere. A solar MUV photometer for daytime measurements of ozone in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere and a lunar MUV photometer for night time measurements have been developed. A series of experiments to study the day to night changes of ozone at different levels in the tropical stratosphere and lower mesosphere were conducted during 1980–81. The experiments show that while at altitudes below 30 km night time concentrations are lower than the daytime values, at altitudes above about 40 km the night time values are larger than the daytime values by a factor which increases with increasing altitude and reaches a value of 1.5 – 1.6 at 55 km. In the intermediate region of 30–40 km the observed changes are small.