High solar cycle spectral variations inconsistent with stratospheric ozone observations

Solar variability can influence surface climate, for example by affecting the mid-to-high-latitude surface pressure gradient associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation1. One key mechanism behind such an influence is the absorption of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation by ozone in the tropical stra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Geoscience
Main Authors: Ball, WT, Haigh, JD, Rozanov, EV, Kuchar, A, Sukhodolov, T, Tummon, F, Shapiro, AV, Schmutz, W
Other Authors: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2015
Subjects:
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Geosciences
Multidisciplinary
Geology
IRRADIANCE
CLIMATE
VARIABILITY
SORCE
RECONSTRUCTION
CIRCULATION
REANALYSES
MODELS
IMPACT
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/33752
https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO2640
Description
Summary:Solar variability can influence surface climate, for example by affecting the mid-to-high-latitude surface pressure gradient associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation1. One key mechanism behind such an influence is the absorption of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation by ozone in the tropical stratosphere, a process that modifies temperature and wind patterns and hence wave propagation and atmospheric circulation2, 3, 4, 5. The amplitude of UV variability is uncertain, yet it directly affects the magnitude of the climate response6: observations from the SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite7 show broadband changes up to three times larger than previous measurements8, 9. Here we present estimates of the stratospheric ozone variability during the solar cycle. Specifically, we estimate the photolytic response of stratospheric ozone to changes in spectral solar irradiance by calculating the difference between a reference chemistry–climate model simulation of ozone variability driven only by transport (with no changes in solar irradiance) and observations of ozone concentrations. Subtracting the reference from simulations with time-varying irradiance, we can evaluate different data sets of measured and modelled spectral irradiance. We find that at altitudes above pressure levels of 5 hPa, the ozone response to solar variability simulated using the SORCE spectral solar irradiance data are inconsistent with the observations.

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