Assessment of the ozone and temperature variability during 1979–1993 with the chemistry-climate model SOCOL

Abstract

The chemistry-climate model SOCOL has been applied for the study of ozone and temperature anomalies during 1979–1993. Temperature and ozone anomalies have been obtained for a set of model runs forced by all major stratospheric forcing mechanisms. Forcings have been prescribed separately and together to assess their individual influence on stratospheric ozone and temperature. The results of these simulations have been compared to available satellite data. The model captures well ozone depletion and cooling in the upper stratosphere due to increases in the abundance of greenhouse gases and ozone depleting substances in the atmosphere. In the lower stratosphere, the model reproduces the warming over tropical and middle latitudes caused by the El-Chichon and Pinatubo eruptions. However, the simulated ozone response is overestimated in comparison with SAGE data. The best agreement with observations has been obtained for the run with all forcings included. This emphasizes the importance of the volcanic and solar forcings for the correct reproduction of observed trends. Comparison of near-global total ozone anomalies confirms an overestimation of ozone depletion just after volcanic eruptions, while the overall agreement with the model is fairly good.