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Atmosphere
Volume 16
Issue 9
10.3390/atmos16091033
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Article

A Study of the Low-Ozone Episode over Scandinavia and Northwestern Russia in March 2025

by
Pavel Vargin
1,2,3,*,
Sergei Smyshlyaev
3,
Vladimir Guryanov
3,4,
Natalia Chubarova
5,
Dmitry Ionov
6,
Tatjana Bankova
1,
Natalya Ivanova
1 and
Anna Solomatnikova
7
1
Central Aerological Observatory, Dolgoprudny, 141700 Moscow, Russia
2
Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Russian Academy of Science, 119017 Moscow, Russia
3
Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) of Russian State Hydrometeorological University, 195196 Saint Petersburg, Russia
4
Institute of Ecology, Biotechnology and Nature Management, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia
5
Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1119991 Moscow, Russia
6
Atmospheric Physics Department, Saint Petersburg University, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia
7
Voeikov Main Geophysical Observatory, 194021 Saint Petersburg, Russia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Atmosphere 2025, 16(9), 1033; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16091033 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 30 May 2025 / Revised: 26 August 2025 / Accepted: 29 August 2025 / Published: 30 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Atmospheric Techniques, Instruments, and Modeling)
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

Following a very cold first half of the Arctic stratosphere winter of 2024–2025, the stratospheric polar vortex weakened from late February. The increase in the polar lower stratosphere temperature led to a decrease in the polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) type I (NAT) volume from ~80 million km3 to zero. The polar vortex weakening and temperature increase continued in early March, when major sudden stratospheric warming occurred. Although the polar cap total column ozone (TCO) significantly increased during this period, an ozone mini-hole formed over Scandinavia and northwestern Russia, with TCO values as low as 220–240 Dobson units, according to satellite observations and ground-based measurements over St. Petersburg and Moscow on 5–6 March 2025. Chemistry-transport model calculations using MERRA2 reanalysis data were performed to investigate the role of chemical ozone depletion and dynamical processes in the low TCO values in early March. Model experiments show that dynamical processes played a predominant role in the formation of low TCO values, but the role of chemical processes was not negligible. Associated with the TCO anomaly, the difference relative to the standard ozone level in the UV indices over Moscow, St. Petersburg and Helsinki reached up to 60–100%.
Keywords: ozone layer; low-ozone episode; Arctic stratospheric polar vortex; ground-based ozone measurements; satellite ozone observations; chemistry-transport model; UV radiation ozone layer; low-ozone episode; Arctic stratospheric polar vortex; ground-based ozone measurements; satellite ozone observations; chemistry-transport model; UV radiation

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MDPI and ACS Style

Vargin, P.; Smyshlyaev, S.; Guryanov, V.; Chubarova, N.; Ionov, D.; Bankova, T.; Ivanova, N.; Solomatnikova, A. A Study of the Low-Ozone Episode over Scandinavia and Northwestern Russia in March 2025. Atmosphere 2025, 16, 1033. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16091033

AMA Style

Vargin P, Smyshlyaev S, Guryanov V, Chubarova N, Ionov D, Bankova T, Ivanova N, Solomatnikova A. A Study of the Low-Ozone Episode over Scandinavia and Northwestern Russia in March 2025. Atmosphere. 2025; 16(9):1033. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16091033

Chicago/Turabian Style

Vargin, Pavel, Sergei Smyshlyaev, Vladimir Guryanov, Natalia Chubarova, Dmitry Ionov, Tatjana Bankova, Natalya Ivanova, and Anna Solomatnikova. 2025. "A Study of the Low-Ozone Episode over Scandinavia and Northwestern Russia in March 2025" Atmosphere 16, no. 9: 1033. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16091033

APA Style

Vargin, P., Smyshlyaev, S., Guryanov, V., Chubarova, N., Ionov, D., Bankova, T., Ivanova, N., & Solomatnikova, A. (2025). A Study of the Low-Ozone Episode over Scandinavia and Northwestern Russia in March 2025. Atmosphere, 16(9), 1033. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16091033

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