The morphology and meteorology of southern hemisphere spring total ozone mini‐holes

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Abstract
Rapid ozone decreases near the base of the Antarctic Penninsula have recently been observed in total ozone maps produced from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). These rapid decreases have been labeled mini‐holes because of their relatively small horizontal scales (1000‐3000 km) with respect to the larger scale ozone hole. The mini‐holes do not show a preferential genesis region, but they do tend to intensify most strongly over the Antarctic Penninsula and the East Antarctica ice sheet. Typical time scales are on the order of 1‐5 days. The mini‐holes have been analyzed using a digital filter. Two mini‐holes case studies from 1987 show: 1) a strong correlation of the total ozone mini‐hole with a temperature mini‐hole (i.e. a negative temperature perturbation), 2) a westward tilt with altitude of the temperature mini‐hole. 3) the mini‐hole in ozone is phase shifted slightly to the east of a high in the geopotential height field, and 4) the mini‐hole is phase shifted slightly to the west of a local low in the Ertel's potential vorticity (Epv) field (note that an Epv low is generally associated with cyclonic flow in the southern hemisphere).