Study of supernova effects on climate through synthetic ozone profiles

Supernova explosions produce radiation that causes changes in the ozone concentration and distribution in the atmosphere. So far, it has been found that the ozone presence perturbed by cosmic ray radiation has been lowered. Nonetheless, the gas is spread out more, and the main concentrations are at altitudes below the typical value we see today in our atmosphere. Overall, it appears more concentrated at the equator. Ozone plays a role in global climate, and a recent study using an intermediate-complexity global climate model (PlaSim) found a slight increase in global temperature for a specific supernova case.



To further investigate, we have developed a function that allows us to represent the ozone distribution changes over time and the identification of vertical and latitudinal profiles dependent on the O3 concentration. We applied the equation to create profiles for a supernova case to study overall changes in climate. Our work will allow us to understand better how ozone changes caused by supernova radiation affect climate.