Trends and variability in total ozone from a mid-latitude southern Hemisphere Site: The Melbourne dobson record 1978-2012

Abstract

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology maintains a number of long-running Dobson measurement programs, among the few in southern hemisphere mid-latitudes. Data from the Melbourne site (the Melbourne/Airport World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre (WOUDC) station was originally located at Aspendale, then moved to the city centre, and finally to Melbourne Airport) from 1978 to 2012 have recently been reviewed and re-evaluated. These data are analyzed using multi-linear regression and also by application of an 11-year running mean. Satellite data from the Merged Ozone Dataset are also used for comparison with the Dobson results. We show that the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) plays a major role in winter and spring once phase is taken into account by month. We also show that the three so-called "classical" proxies (QBO, solar cycle, and Equivalent Effective Stratospheric Chlorine (EESC)) alone are able to give a good fit to ozone for Melbourne and, more generally, the southern mid-latitudes for most months of the year, in contrast with the case in the northern hemisphere where dynamical variation plays a much more important role. Correspondingly, the smoothed Melbourne Dobson time series shows a high correlation to EESC.