The Possible Responses of Polar Ozone to Solar Proton Events in March 2012 by FengYun‐3 Satellite Observations

Abstract

In this work, we use observations by the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Sounder and Space Environment Monitor on FengYun-3 to analyze the polar ozone depletion during the solar proton events (SPEs), which occurred in early March 2012. The ozone distributions changed evidently with the increasing energetic proton flux (the particle energy is over 100 MeV) at the approximate altitude of 30 km. From the ozone profile relative changes, the short-term impacts of SPEs can be distinguished from the long-term effects of ozone season variations after the SPEs take place and cause about 4-17% of the short-term polar ozone decreases at the different levels in the upper stratosphere of both hemispheres. In the upper stratosphere, the SPE-related polar ozone depletion is more significant and continuous in the Northern Hemisphere but shows the short-term effects in the Southern Hemisphere during the March SPEs. The ozone depletion responses to the first SPE on 7 March are more pronounced in this altitude region than the second one on 13 March in both hemispheres due to the "harder" particle energy spectrum.

The Northern and Southern Hemispheric Asymmetries of Mesospheric Ozone at High Latitudes During the January 2012 Solar Proton Events

“…The downward transport caused the upper stratospheric enhancements in NO x and then resulted in ozone reductions by photochemical reactions. Huang et al (2019) use observations by the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Sounder and Space Environment Monitor on FengYun-3 to study the polar ozone depletion at two different pressure levels in the stratosphere during the March 2012 SPEs. They found that the ozone depletion caused by the first SPE on March 7 was more noteworthy than the second one on March 13 at 30 km in both hemispheres due to the "harder" particle energy spectrum.…”