Multi-resolution analysis of global total ozone column during 1979−1992 Nimbus-7 TOMS period

E Echer

doi:10.5194/angeo-22-1487-2004

Abstract

Abstract. A relatively recent technique, the multi-resolution analysis (MRA), was applied to the global total ozone column measured by the Nimbus-7 TOMS instrument during 1979–1992. Ozone monthly averages were filtered in orthonormal frequency bands using the Meyer wavelet transform, and the ozone variability was analyzed in different time scales: high frequency oscillations (2–4 months), semiannual variation (6 months), annual variation, quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and solar cycle related variations. MRA was thus showed to be an efficient band-pass filter to isolate different time scale signals. QBO, ENSO and solar cycle related variations in global total ozone are investigated in more detail through spectral and cross-correlation analyses.Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (middle atmosphere-composition and chemistry) – General or miscellaneous (techniques applicable in three or more fields)

Highlights

Total ozone column shows a very well-known global distribution, with a minimum of around 260 DU (Dobson Units) at equatorial latitudes, increasing toward poles in both hemispheres until a maximum of around 400 DU at sub-polar latitudes (Whitten and Prasad, 1985; Stanford et al, 1995)
The coefficients increase from around 0.50 to 0.98 for ozone and solar cycle F10.7 index correlation, and from −0.30 to −0.80 for ozone and quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) (ZWI) correlation. These results indicate that both solar and QBO components in ozone were adequately isolated by the multi-resolution analysis (MRA) filtering
Multi-resolution analysis (MRA) was applied to the global total ozone series recorded by the Nimbus-7 total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) instrument during 1979–1992

Summary

Introduction

Total ozone column shows a very well-known global distribution, with a minimum of around 260 DU (Dobson Units) at equatorial latitudes, increasing toward poles in both hemispheres until a maximum of around 400 DU at sub-polar latitudes (Whitten and Prasad, 1985; Stanford et al, 1995). The quasi-biennial variation in total ozone was first reported by Funk and Garnham (1962), as related to the zonal stratospheric wind oscillations of 26–30 months (Reed et al, 1961). This quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in stratospheric winds is a quasi-periodical reversal in zonally symmetric easterly and westerly wind regimes between 30– 50 hPa (Holton, 1992). Periodicities of 3.5–4 years on total ozone have been identified (Hasebe, 1980; Kane et al, 1998; Zerefos et al, 1992) which seems to be related to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. Large ENSO events, such as 1982–1983, can explain negative anomalies in ozone (Zerefos et al, 1992). Bojkov (1987) reported that large ENSO events are followed, with a lag of a few months, by low ozone values in middle and even polar latitudes

Echer: Multi-resolution analysis of global total ozone column

Data and indices

Multi-resolution analysis

Results and discussion

Conclusions