Study of the non-linear interaction between QBO and Solar Cycle in stratospheric ozone using the THIN AIR model

The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is considered a potential amplifier of the solar cycle effect in the lower atmosphere (Mayr et al., 2006). We used the THIN AIR (Two and a Half dimensional INterActive Isentropic Research; Kinnersley and Tung 1999) model, an isentropic chemical-dynamical-radiative atmospheric model, to investigate this mechanism. This model can simulate the ozone QBO quite well. In the simulation using a non-interactive chemistry transport model, the model O3 column for the solar cycle in the tropics agrees with the scaled solar flux at 10.7 cm, except that the amplitude of model O3 column variability is about half of that from MOD data. In the interactive model, it is found that the amplitudes of the model O3 column of both QBO and solar cycle are more than twice larger at the north pole than those at the equator. The amplitude of solar cycle is also increased by 20% at equator with the influence of the QBO. The results support the recent findings of a non-linear interaction between the QBO and the solar cycle in the stratosphere (Salby and Callaghan, 2006).