A new pathway for communicating the 11‐year solar cycle signal to the QBO

Abstract

The response of the equatorial quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) to zonal‐mean ozone perturbations consistent with the 11‐year solar cycle is examined using a 2 dimensional model of the tropical stratosphere. Unique to this model are wave‐ozone feedbacks, which provide a new, nonlinear pathway for communicating solar variability effects to the QBO. Model simulations show that for zonal‐mean ozone perturbations representative of solar maximum (minimum), the diabatic heating due to the wave‐ozone feedbacks is primarily responsible for driving a slightly stronger (weaker) QBO circulation and producing a slightly shorter (longer) QBO period. These results, which are explained via an analytical analysis of the divergence of Eliassen‐palm flux, are in general agreement with observations of quasi‐decadal variability of the QBO.