Quasi-Biennial Oscillation of Zonal Wind in the Equatorial Stratosphere and Its Influence on Interannual Fluctuations in the Depth of the Antarctic Ozone Hole

I. P. Gabis

The Antarctic ozone hole is observed annually in spring due to the complex influence of photochemical and dynamical processes. The increased concentration of ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere causes a long-term negative trend in total ozone (TO). Intense interannual fluctuations in TO against a background of the long-term trend associated with dynamic atmospheric processes do not allow assessing definitely the direction of the trend (growth/decline) in the recent years. Studying the dependence of interannual fluctuations in the ozone hole intensity on the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) allows identifying natural causes of variations and assessing the trend due to anthropogenic factors. The long-term QBO forecast allows predicting different phenomena that depend on the QBO.