On the ambiguous nature of the 11 year solar cycle signal in upper stratospheric ozone
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Up to now our understanding of the 11 year ozone solar cycle signal (SCS) in the upper stratosphere has been largely based on the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II (v6.2) data record, which indicated a large positive signal which could not be reproduced by models, calling into question our understanding of the chemistry of the upper stratosphere. Here we present an analysis of new v7.0 SAGE II data which shows a smaller upper stratosphere ozone SCS, due to a more realistic ozone-temperature anticorrelation. New simulations from a state-of-art 3-D chemical transport model show a small SCS in the upper stratosphere, which is in agreement with SAGE v7.0 data and the shorter Halogen Occultation Experiment and Microwave Limb Sounder records. However, despite these improvements in the SAGE II data, there are still large uncertainties in current observational and meteorological reanalysis data sets, so accurate quantification of the influence of solar flux variability on the climate system remains an open scientific question.
Date Issued
2016-06-16
Date Acceptance
2016-06-13
Citation
Geophysical Research Letters, 2016, 43 (13), pp.7241-7249
ISSN
1944-8007
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Start Page
7241
End Page
7249
Journal / Book Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume
43
Issue
13
Copyright Statement
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Geology
solar signal
stratosphere
modeling
CHEMICAL-TRANSPORT MODEL
QUASI-BIENNIAL OSCILLATION
MT. PINATUBO ERUPTION
SPECTRAL IRRADIANCE
CLIMATE MODEL
SAGE II
SIMULATIONS
VARIABILITY
CIRCULATION
VERSION
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
MD Multidisciplinary
Publication Status
Published