Combined monthly mean vertical ozone profile database spanning the period 1979 to 2007. The database is completely filled such that there are no missing data. The raw individual ozone data are sourced from the BDBP database. Monthly means are calculated from individual ozone measurements extracted from the BDBP in much the same way as in Hassler et al. (2009). Five "Tier" levels are available: 'raw', anthropogenic, natural, natural + volcanoes, all. The monthly data are zonal and are made available at 70 altitudes (1 km) and pressure levels.
Key Strengths:
- Complete global coverage from the surface to 70 km - gap free.
- Realistic interannual variability
- Severe ozone depletion in the Antarctic polar vortex is well captured.
Key Limitations:
- Negative ozone trends in the tropical lower stratosphere may be over-estimated.
- The data set does not include uncertainties.
- The data sets being used as input have not been corrected for offsets and drifts against each other.
Expert User Guidance
The following was contributed by Birgit Hassler (NOAA and CIRES; now at Bodeker Scientific), March, 2013:
The BDBP zonal mean, monthly mean data set is a vertically resolved, gap free ozone data set that spans the period 1979 to 2007. The data set is based on measurements from several different satellite instruments (SAGE I and SAGE II, HALOE, POAM II and III, LIMS, ILAS and ILAS II) and over 130 ozonesonde stations globally. These measurements provide the input for a regression model with which data gaps in the satellite and ozonesonde data are filled to obtain a gap-free data set.
The BDBP data set is available on 70 altitude or pressure levels, spanning the atmosphere from the Earth’s surface up to 70km or ~0.05hPa, and both ozone volume mixing ratio and ozone number density. Although a tropospheric ozone field is included in the data set, the main focus at its creation was the stratosphere. The variability contained in the data set resembles the variability of the observations and is obtained by including a multitude of basis functions in the regression model (Bodeker et al., 2013).
This data set is suitable for assessing ozone fields from chemistry–climate model simulations or for providing the ozone boundary conditions for global climate model simulations that do not treat stratospheric chemistry interactively.#
Technical Notes
The following summary from Hassler et al (2013) - in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics - provides a useful comparison among the three main zonal-mean ozone data sets:
"Based on the comparisons in this study, the following features of each data set can be deduced, which bears on their utility in different applications:
– RW07 – This data set shows a more conservative estimate of tropical and polar ozone changes than the BDBP data set, but does not match absolute ozone observations well in some latitudinal and atmospheric regions. This data set would be most useful where only ozone anomalies are necessary for a particular study, and if a more conservative ozone change estimate is desirable.
– SPARC – This is the only data set that covers more than only the observational period (1979 to 2005) and runs from 1850 to 2100. This data set would be most helpful for studies that require historical or future ozone, are not concerned with much variability besides an annual cycle and desire a generally conservative ozone change.
– BDBP – This data set includes the most detailed interannual variability, the most realistic SH polar ozone loss and the best agreement with absolute SAGE II and ozonesonde values. It displays the largest ozone changes over much of the lower stratosphere. This data set would be most helpful for studies that focus on these characteristics."
Years of Record
Formats
Timestep
Domain
Spatial Resolution
Missing Data Flag
Vertical Levels
Input Data
Data Access: Please Cite data sources, following the data providers' instructions.
- Bodeker, G. E., Hassler, B., Young, P. J., and Portmann, R. W.: A vertically resolved, global, gap-free ozone database for assessing or constraining global climate model simulations, Earth System Science Data, 5(1), 31–43. doi:10.5194/essd-5-31-2013.
- Hassler, B., G. E. Bodeker, I. Cionni, and M. Dameris (2009), A vertically resolved, monthly mean, ozone database from 1979 to 2100 for constraining global climate model simulations, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 30(15-16), 4009–4018.
- Hassler, B., G. E. Bodeker, and M. Dameris (2008), Technical Note: A new global database of trace gases and aerosols from multiple sources of high vertical resolution measurements, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 8, 5403-5421.
- Polvani, L.M. et al (2011): Large cancellation, due to ozone recovery, of future Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation trends
- B. Hassler, P. J. Young, R. W. Portmann et al (2013), Comparison of three vertically resolved ozone data sets: climatology, trends and radiative forcings, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 5533-5550.
- Solomon, S., P. J. Young, and B. Hassler (2012), Uncertainties in the evolution of stratospheric ozone and implications for recent temperature changes in the tropical lower stratosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L17706, doi:10.1029/2012GL052723.
