NO 2 column amount and total ozone in Stara Zagora (42°N, 25°E) and their response to the solar rotational activity variation

Abstract

Studies have shown that the total ozone amount and the ozone mixing ratio on the Earth’s equator correlate with the 27-day rotational modulation of the solar activity.We report some first results of our research, concerning possible links between the short-term solar activity, i.e., variations on the rotational time-scale, and the stratospheric NO 2. The solar activity variations and the atmospheric responses were studied by means of wavelet analysis, cross-correlation and cross-wavelet analysis. It is found out that the 27-day solar cycle in the UV irradiation is modulated by a longer period of several months; this longer period is probably related with active region growth and decay (ARGD). That kind of modulation produces shortening or extension of the 27-day basic period, ranging from 22 to 34 days. The modulation is a consequence of ARGD and hence, results from a variable pattern of spots and active regions on the solar surface. We find a similar time-frequency behaviour in the wavelet maps of NO 2 slant column amounts, derived from DOAS measurements at the Stara Zagora station as well as in the total ozone amount, obtained by the GOME instrument during solar cycle 23. For those time intervals when the cross-correlation between the variation of the short-term solar activity and that of the trace gas species is positive, the cross-correlation coefficients are up to 0.6 for the NO 2 and up to 0.5 for the ozone variation.