<p>Per <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer#/media/File:Nimbus_ozone_Brewer-Dobson_circulation.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this image</a> shown below, the largest concentration of the ozone layer above the northern hemisphere is at a lower altitude than the largest concentration above the southern hemisphere. However, temperature near the South Pole is lower than near the North Pole. Therefore, I'd expect the atmosphere is more compressed in the south and therefore the ozone layer would be lower there. So what's the reason the ozone layer actually peaks lower on the northern hemisphere?</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/JcJbT.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/JcJbT.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Edit: On <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Brewer-Dobson-circulation-and-the-distribution-of-ozone-This-meridional-cross-section_fig1_260315664" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this image</a> you can see it better: There is this giant red spot on the North Pole. Why is the ozone concentration so strong there?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T17:00:42.837Z
A note that your additional plot is January-March, as shown in the [original](https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/sroc_full-1.pdf) (page 90) (poor on Jacobs for not noting that in the caption of their reproduction).  So it'd make sense to be a bigger spot in the NH as it's NH winter.
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T17:52:34.437Z
@JeopardyTempest Oh I see. Still, it's strangely similar to the other plot.
Why On Earth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-08T02:22:23.850Z
Consider that the northern hemisphere pole is an ocean, while the southern hemisphere pole is a mountainous continent.
f.thorpe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-08T05:47:42.587Z
@f.thorpe But the ocean is frozen, making it effectively solid land. And there are mountainous islands such as Greenland and Ellesmere.
Why On Earth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-08T13:24:36.037Z
The continental/ocean distribution in southern/northern hemispheres are quite different, which affects the Brewer-Dobson circulation and residence time of ozone.  See section 3.5.1 here: http://www.ccpo.odu.edu/SEES/ozone/class/Chap_6/
f.thorpe
<atmospheric-chemistry><ozone>
Why is the ozone layer in the northern hemisphere at lower altitudes than in the southern hemisphere?
Why On Earth
# Why is the ozone layer in the northern hemisphere at lower altitudes than in the southern hemisphere?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-07-07)

Per [this image](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer#/media/File:Nimbus_ozone_Brewer-Dobson_circulation.jpg) shown below, the largest concentration of the ozone layer above the northern hemisphere is at a lower altitude than the largest concentration above the southern hemisphere. However, temperature near the South Pole is lower than near the North Pole. Therefore, I'd expect the atmosphere is more compressed in the south and therefore the ozone layer would be lower there. So what's the reason the ozone layer actually peaks lower on the northern hemisphere?

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/JcJbT.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/JcJbT.png)

Edit: On [this image](https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Brewer-Dobson-circulation-and-the-distribution-of-ozone-This-meridional-cross-section_fig1_260315664) you can see it better: There is this giant red spot on the North Pole. Why is the ozone concentration so strong there?

**Tags:** atmospheric-chemistry, ozone

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: A note that your additional plot is January-March, as shown in the [original](https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/sroc_full-1.pdf) (page 90) (poor on Jacobs for not noting that in the caption of their reproduction).  So it'd make sense to be a bigger spot in the NH as it's NH winter.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Oh I see. Still, it's strangely similar to the other plot.  
> **username_2**: Consider that the northern hemisphere pole is an ocean, while the southern hemisphere pole is a mountainous continent.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 But the ocean is frozen, making it effectively solid land. And there are mountainous islands such as Greenland and Ellesmere.  
> **username_2**: The continental/ocean distribution in southern/northern hemispheres are quite different, which affects the Brewer-Dobson circulation and residence time of ozone.  See section 3.5.1 here: http://www.ccpo.odu.edu/SEES/ozone/class/Chap_6/  

---

## 0 answers

