Distribution of Tropical Tropospheric Ozone Determined by the Scan-Angle Method applied to TOMS Measurements

This study introduces the first method that determines tropospheric ozone column directly from a space-based instrument. This method is based on the physical differences in the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) measurement as a function of its scan-angle geometry. Tropospheric ozone in September-October exhibits a broad enhancement over South America, the southern Atlantic Ocean, and western South Africa and a minimum over the central Pacific Ocean. Tropical tropospheric ozone south of the equator is higher than north of the equator in September-October, the southern burning season. Conversely, ozone north of the equator is higher in March, the northern burning season. Overall, the ozone over the southern tropics during September-October is significantly higher than over the northern tropics. Abnormally high tropospheric ozone occurs over the western Pacific Ocean during the El Nino season when the ozone amounts are as high as the ozone over the Africa.