Impact of solar and geomagnetic activities on total column ozone in China

Abstract

Dynamic impacts on sunspot number (SSN), solar radio flux at 10.7 cm (F10.7) and amplitude antipodal (aa) index influencing long-term trends of total column ozone (TCO) obtained from three stations; Xianghe (39.975°N, 116.37°E), Linan (30.3°N, 119.73°E), and Kunming (25.03°N, 102.683°E) over China have been studied. Descriptive, regression and neural network training techniques are used from 1980 to 2018. The annual mean TCO concentrations are 333.61 ± 1.15 DU, 280.87 ± 0.58 DU, and 260.33 ± 0.49 DU at Xianghe, Linan, and Kunming stations, respectively. The mean monthly peak TCO values are ~417.13 DU (March), 316.79 DU (April), and 291.03 DU (April) at Xianghe, Linan, and Kunming, respectively. Irrespective of the decreasing seasonal trend during spring at Xianghe, the springtime TCO amount is greater than the TCO values in other seasons at all stations. Our analyses show direct forcing of SSN, F10.7, and aa on TCO changes throughout the different periods considered. At Xianghe, the value of r ranges between 0.09 and 0.48 and the p-value < 0.05 whereas the most contributing factor is aa index (about 40 %) to ozone enhancement. There is a dramatic improvement of the impact of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO)-modulated (70 hPa and 50 hPa) SSN, F10.7, and aa on TCO during winter in all the stations particularly the aa, which appreciated from ~40 % to 66 %. Ozone is affected negatively during descending and low solar cycle (SC) phases whereas it enhances during ascending and high SC phases with 30 hPa QBO as the most active force of enhancement. Our finding is a profitable tool for atmospheric model development, which could be used to predict future phenomena.