HR: 1400h
AN: GC23A-04    [Abstracts]
TI: The Nonlinear Relationship Between the Arctic Oscillation and Stratospheric Ozone
AU: * Peterson, A
EM: kepeters@ramapo.edu
AF: Ramapo College of New Jersey, Theoretical and Applied Science, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ 07430, United States
AB: An analysis of total ozone concentration as a function of the Arctic Oscillation Index (AO) was performed at all available stations. In particular, we looked for relationships between the two that were nonlinear in nature by performing a best fit of the total ozone concentrations to a quadratic function of the AO index. During the winter months (DJFM), a general negative correlation between the two variables was observed at stations between the latitudes of 40N and 70N. This is due to the influence ozone concentration has on stratospheric temperature and in turn on the strength of the AO. A strong AO, or more specifically, a strong polar vortex can serve to dynamically isolate air masses with low ozone depleted by early spring halogen chemistry or by summertime NO_x chemistry. This represents a feedback mechanism by which ozone concentration and the AO are linked in both directions which should manifest itself as a nonlinear relationship between the two variables. We find such a significant quadratic relationship only in May at stations between 50N and 70N, primarily in Northern Europe and Russia.
DE: 1610 Atmosphere (0315, 0325)
DE: 1616 Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513)
DE: 3305 Climate change and variability (1616, 1635, 3309, 4215, 4513)
DE: 3349 Polar meteorology
DE: 3362 Stratosphere/troposphere interactions
SC: Global Climate Change [GC]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly