Quasi-Biennial Oscillations in Atmospheric Ozone from the Chemistry-Climate Model and Ozone Reanalysis

Abstract

The quasi-biennial oscillation is the primary mode of variability of the equatorial mean zonal wind in the lower stratosphere, which is characterized by downward propagating easterly and westerly wind regimes from 10 hPa level with a period approximately 28 months. The effects of the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation in zonal winds (SQBO) are not only confined to atmospheric dynamics but also seen in the chemical constituent (trace gases) anomalies such as ozone, water vapor, carbon monoxide and methane in the lower stratosphere. In this study, we examined the SQBO and associated ozone quasi-biennial oscillation (OQBO) using the chemistry-climate model CHASER (MIROC-ESM) simulations and ECMWF ERA-Interim ozone reanalysis for the period 2000-2015. We used lower stratospheric zonal wind from the radiosonde observations and total column ozone (TCO) from Aura Satellite (OMI Instruments) over Singapore to compare the SQBO and ...