Effects of energetic particles precipitation on stratospheric ozone in the Southern Hemisphere

Abstract

Measurements from TOMS and UARS-HALOE are used to estimate the effects of energetic particle precipitation (EPP) over the stratosphere during two geomagnetic storms occurred in November of the years 2003 and 2004. The EPP couples the solar wind to the Earth's atmosphere and indirectly to the Earth's climate. Due to particle precipitation, the ionization and dissociation increase, and create odd nitrogen (NOx) and odd hydrogen (HOx) in the upper atmosphere, which can affect ozone chemistry. In this paper, statistically significant variation in total ozone content at middle latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere is observed. The variations depend on the intensity of geomagnetic disturbances and the geomagnetic longitude. A significant variation in NOx concentration at altitudes from 30 to 50 km is observed from the profiles analysis.