Evaluating the Ozone Valley over the Tibetan Plateau in CMIP6 Models

Total column ozone (TCO) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is lower than that over other regions at the same latitude, particularly in summer. This feature is known as the TP ozone valley. This study evaluates long-term changes in TCO and the ozone valley over the TP from 1984 to 2100 using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). The TP ozone valley consists of two low centers, one is located in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS), and the other is in the middle and upper stratosphere. Overall, the CMIP6 models simulate the low ozone center in the UTLS well and capture the spatial characteristics and seasonal cycle of the TP ozone valley, with spatial correlation coefficients between the modeled TCO and the Multi Sensor Reanalysis version 2 (MSR2) TCO observations greater than 0.8 for all CMIP6 models. Further analysis reveals that models which use fully coupled and online stratospheric chemistry schemes simulate the anticorrelation between the 150 hPa geopotential height and zonal anomaly of TCO over the TP better than models without interactive chemistry schemes. This suggests that coupled chemical-radiative-dynamical processes play a key role in the simulation of the TP ozone valley. Most CMIP6 models underestimate the low center in the middle and upper stratosphere when compared with the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) observations. However, the bias in the middle and upper stratospheric ozone simulations has a marginal effect on the simulation of the TP ozone valley. Most CMIP6 models predict the TP ozone valley in summer will deepen in the future.

Automated summary

The total column ozone (TCO) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is lower than other regions at the same latitude, especially in summer, forming the TP ozone valley. CMIP6 models simulate the TCO and ozone valley changes well, with the coupled chemical-radiative-dynamical processes playing a key role in the simulation of the TP ozone valley. Most CMIP6 models predict that the TP ozone valley will deepen in the future during summer months.