A study of the latitudinal dependence of the quasi-biennial oscillation in Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer total ozone

Abstract

A wavelet multiresolution analysis of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) latitudinal structure in total ozone is performed for the period 1979-1992 (Nimbus-7 TOMS data). It has been found that ozone is nearly in phase with the QBO signal in the equatorial region (0°-5° and 5°-10°), and it is out of phase (lag ∼ + 15 and - 15 months in north and south) in the 10°-15° to 55°-60° latitudinal bands. The cross-correlation coefficient between total ozone and zonal wind index is high (>0.7) at latitudes lower than 10°, decreases in the transition region 10°-15° (r ∼ 0.4) and it has a non-linear profile at high latitudes, with a maximum near the 25°-30° band. The correlation is observed to be higher in the Southern Hemisphere latitudinal bands. Spectral analysis was performed for each latitudinal range, and QBO period and amplitude profiles were obtained. A detailed latitudinal profile of the QBO signal in total ozone is obtained from the present analysis. © Blackwell Munksgaard, 2004.