Stephenson, D. B. and J.-F. Royer, 1995a: Low-frequency
variability of total ozone mapping spectrometer and general circulation
model total ozone stationary waves associated with the El Nino/Southern
Oscillation for the period 1979-1988. Journal of Geophysical Research,
100, 7337-7346.
Low-frequency stationary wave variability, having periods
of greater than 8 months, has been studied in the total ozone column measured
by the Nimbus 7 total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) over the period
1979-1988. This has been compared with the total ozone column variability
obtained from a general circulation model (GCM) having prescribed observed
sea surface temperatures (SSTs) for the same period. The GCM results demonstrate
that the total ozone stationary waves are strongly anticorrelated with
the 200-hPa eddy geopotential height, suggesting that total ozone can be
used to study upper level geopotential height stationary waves and their
low-frequency variability. The response to El Nino/Southern Oscillation
(ENSO) events is clearly seen in both the TOMS and the GCM total ozone
stationary waves. In the tropics, there is a tropical dipole pattern response
to ENSO similar to the negative of the dipole response seen in the upper
level geopotential height, attributable to the east-west ENSO see-saw in
tropical convection. The model total ozone response is about a half of
that of the TOMS response consistent with the model geopotential height
response being too weak in comparison with analyses from the European Centre
for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). South of 25°S, the TOMS
data show a zonal wave I ENSO response in antiphase with the response in
the tropics and the response is such that during El Nino (La Nina) events
the Southern Hemisphere stationary waves are weaker (stronger) than normal.
No such response is evident in the GCM results or ECMWF analyses, which
instead have a zonal wave 3 ENSO response in the Southern Hemisphere. A
zonal wave 1 analysis reveals that the model and analyses have quite different
time-mean zonal wave 1 structures in the tropics and in the Southern Hemisphere
compared with those from the TOMS data reflecting possible model errors.