A study of the latitudinal dependence of the quasi-biennial oscillation in Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer total ozone

A wavelet multiresolution analysis of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) latitudinal structure in total ozone is performed for the period 1979–1992 (Nimbus-7 TOMS data). It has been found that ozone is nearly in phase with the QBO signal in the equatorial region (0°–5° and 5°–10°), and it is out of phase (lag ∼+15 and −15 months in north and south) in the 10°–15° to 55°–60° latitudinal bands. The cross-correlation coefficient between total ozone and zonal wind index is high (>0.7) at latitudes lower than 10°, decreases in the transition region 10°–15° (r∼ 0.4) and it has a non-linear profile at high latitudes, with a maximum near the 25°–30° band. The correlation is observed to be higher in the Southern Hemisphere latitudinal bands. Spectral analysis was performed for each latitudinal range, and QBO period and amplitude profiles were obtained. A detailed latitudinal profile of the QBO signal in total ozone is obtained from the present analysis.