Ozone levels drop when hurricanes are strengtheningJune 08, 2005Scientists are continually exploring different aspects of hurricanes to increase the understanding of how they behave. Recently, NASA-funded scientists from Florida State University looked at ozone around hurricanes and found that ozone levels drop as a hurricane is intensifying. In a recent study, Xiaolei Zou and Yonghui Wu, researchers at Florida State University found that variations of ozone levels from the surface to the upper atmosphere are closely related to the formation, intensification and movement of a hurricane. They studied ozone levels in 12 hurricanes and looked at total ozone levels, that is, from the ground to the upper atmosphere. Now scientists have clues on how a hurricane behaves when the ozone levels are high and low. Zou and Wu noticed that over 100 miles, the area of a hurricane typically has low levels of ozone from the surface to the top of the hurricane. Whenever a hurricane intensifies, it appears that the ozone levels throughout the storm decrease. When they looked at the storm with ozone data a hurricane's eye becomes very clear. Because forecasters always try to pinpoint the eye of the hurricane, this knowledge will help with locating the exact position and lead to better tracking. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the agency that issues hurricane forecasts. Out of the 12 storms analyzed, the ozone data and the NHC official report differed on the mean distance between the estimated eye by less than 18 miles during the most intense stage of the storms. As such, when Zou and Wu added the satellite observed ozone levels around a hurricane into a computer forecast model, it greatly improved the predicted track that the hurricane would take. "This research highlights the benefits of Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data in hurricane track and intensity prediction, an important forecasting problem since hurricanes strike regions of high population and property growth, resulting in large natural disasters," said Zou. The other interesting finding when analyzing ozone data around hurricanes, is that ozone levels give a clue that a storm will develop before other methods. The early spin of a tropical cyclone is weak and sometimes covered by clouds, and not easily detected by satellites that provide pictures of clouds. The ozone data gives scientists a "look beyond the clouds." Ozone is all around the world and in the upper and lower atmosphere. Ozone in the upper atmosphere protects life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun, which can cause sunburn and skin cancer. Ozone close to the surface is a pollutant, which on hot, humid days with little wind creates a haze, such as that over big cities, that is harmful to breathe. By using NASA's satellite Earth Probe/ TOMS total ozone data, forecasters can identify ozone amounts that are closely related to the formation, intensification, and movement of a hurricane. Zou and Wu also found a strong relationship between ozone, air pressure and spin within the hurricanes. Zou said that the connections between ozone levels and hurricane behavior are a very important step in understanding the storms. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center-EOS Project Sci |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Related Ozone Levels Current Events and Ozone Levels News Articles Houseplants cut indoor ozone Ozone, the main component of air pollution, or smog, is a highly reactive, colorless gas formed when oxygen reacts with other chemicals. Even healthy lungs labor at acceptable ozone levels Ozone exposure, even at levels deemed safe by current clean air standards, can have a significant and negative effect on lung function, according to researchers at the University of California Davis. Ozone, nitrogen change the way rising CO2 affects Earth's water Through a recent modeling experiment, a team of NASA-funded researchers have found that future concentrations of carbon dioxide and ozone in the atmosphere and of nitrogen in the soil are likely to have an important but overlooked effect on the cycling of water from sky to land to waterways. Climate change and atmospheric circulation will make for uneven ozone recovery Earth's ozone layer should eventually recover from the unintended destruction brought on by the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and similar ozone-depleting chemicals in the 20th century. New simulation shows consequences of a world without Earth's natural sunscreen Nearly two-thirds of Earth's ozone is gone -- not just over the poles, but everywhere. The infamous ozone hole over Antarctica, first discovered in the 1980s, is a year-round fixture, with a twin over the North Pole. The ultraviolet (UV) radiation falling on mid-latitude cities like Washington, D.C., is strong enough to cause sunburn in just five minutes. Global warming may delay recovery of stratospheric ozone Increasing greenhouse gases could delay, or even postpone indefinitely the recovery of stratospheric ozone in some regions of the Earth, a new study suggests. This change might take a toll on public health. Smokers see decline in ability to smell, rise in laryngitis, and upper airway issues As Americans prepare for a day without cigarettes and tobacco products as part of the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout (R) (November 20), new research gives them more reasons to extend that break to a lifetime. Wildfires Cause Ozone Pollution to Violate Health Standards, New Study Shows Wildfires can boost ozone pollution to levels that violate U.S. health standards, a new study concludes. Key molecule discovered in Venus's atmosphere Venus Express has detected the molecule hydroxyl on another planet for the first time. This detection gives scientists an important new tool to unlock the workings of Venus's dense atmosphere. Ozone hole recovery may reshape southern hemisphere climate change A full recovery of the stratospheric ozone hole could modify climate change in the Southern Hemisphere and even amplify Antarctic warming, according to scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA. More Ozone Levels Current Events and Ozone Levels News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||