Animations by
Susan Twardy
Released on November 5, 2003
Arctic Vortex - During winter, stratospheric winds (uppermost atmosphere) tend to form a vortex around the North Pole. These polar clouds lead to chemical reactions that affect the chemical form of chlorine in the stratosphere. In certain chemical forms, chlorine can deplete the ozone layer.
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation:
Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0