The examination of the role of the lower stratospheric circulation to the vertical ozone distribution, is attempted by using the vertical ozone profiles collected by balloon-borne sondes released at Athens, Greece (38 deg N, 24 deg E), throughout the period 1989-1997. The most pronounced special features of the ozone structure, such as lamination phenomenon, minimum of ozone partial pressure at the height region of 14-17 km and ozone minima at the height region of 20-25 km, have been used in order to create groups of relevant profiles. The occurrence of the above mentioned features, correlated with the circulation pattern, leads to the following preliminary results: a) Laminated features are associated with the north-northwest circulation in the lower stratosphere; b) The lower stratosphere's characteristic ozone minimum is related to the influence of the subtropical jet stream circulation; and c) The observed ozone depletion at the height region of 20-25 km, is characterized by the movement of the polar vortex to the mid-latitudes, resulting more intense north-western circulation above our experimental site.
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