Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics www.atmos-chem-phys.net 1680-7316 1680-7324 6 8 2006 10.5194/acp-6-2231-2006 http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/6/2231/2006/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/6/2231/2006/acp-6-2231-2006.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/6/2231/2006/acp-6-2231-2006.pdf 2231 2240 2006-06-21 Detection and measurement of total ozone from stellar spectra: Paper 2. Historic data from 1935–1942 R. E. M. Griffin elizabeth.griffin@nrc.gc.ca Department of Earth and Space Sciences and Engineering, York University, 4700Keele Street, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada, and Herzberg Institute forAstrophysics, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC, V9E 2E7, Canada Atmospheric ozone columns are derived from historic stellar spectra observed between 1935 and 1942 at Mount Wilson Observatory, California. Comparisons with contemporary measurements in the Arosa database show a generally close correspondence, while a similar comparison with more sparse data from Table Mountain reveals a difference of ~15–20%, as has also been found by other researches of the latter data. The results of the analysis indicate that astronomy's archives command considerable potential for investigating the natural levels of ozone and its variability during the decades prior to anthropogenic interference. Abbot, C. G., Fowle, F. E., and Aldrich, L. B.: Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution, 4, 1-367, 1923. Angione, R. J., Medeiros, E. J., and Roosen, R. G.: Stratospheric ozone as viewed from the Chappuis bands, Nature, 261, 289-290, 1976. Brönnimann, S., Luterbacher, J., Staehelin, J., Svendby, T., Hansen, G., and Sven\oe, T.: Extreme climate of the global troposphere and stratosphere in 1940-42 related to El Ni\~no, Nature, 431, 971-974, 2004. Fowler, A. and Strutt, R. J.: Absorption bands of atmospheric ozone in the spectra of sun and stars, Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 93, 577-586, 1917. Griffin, R. E. M.: The detection and measurement of telluric ozone from stellar spectra, Publ Astron Soc Pacific, 117, 885-894 (Paper 1), 2005. Griffin, R. E. M., Verschueren, W., and David, M.: Accuracy of radial-velocity measurements for early-type stars. II. Investigations of spectrum mismatch from high-resolution observations, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl., 147, 299-321, 2000. Griffin, R.& R.: A Photometric Atlas of the Spectrum of Procyon, R. and R. Griffin (Cambridge Observatories), 1979. Hartmann, J.: A simple interpolation formula for the prismatic spectrum, Ap.J., 8, 218-222, 1898. Huggins, W. and Huggins, Mrs.: On a new group of lines in the photographic spectrum of Sirius, Proc. Roy. Soc., 48, 216-217, 1890. Hurter, F. and Driffield, V. C.: Photo-chemical investigations and a new method of determination of the sensitiveness of photographic plates, J. Soc. Chem. Ind., 9, 455, 1890. Kohl, O.: Untersuchungen über den ultravioletten Teil einiger Fixsternspektren nach Aufnahmen von Prof. Hartmann, thesis, Univ of Göttingen, 1913. Komhyr, W. D., Mateer, C. L. and Hudson, R. D.: Effective Bass-Paur 1985 ozone absorption coefficients for use with Dobson ozone spectrophotometers, JGR, 98, 20 451-20 456, 1993. Roosen, R. G. and Angione, R. J.: Variations in atmospheric water vapor: baseline results from Smithsonian observations, Publ Astron Soc Pacif., 89, 814-822, 1977. Roosen, R. G. and Angione, R. J.: Atmospheric transmission and climate: results from Smithsonian measurements, Bull Amer Met Soc., 65, 950-957, 1984.