An Analytical Study of Ozone Feedbacks on Kelvin and Rossby–Gravity Waves: Effects on the QBO

An equatorial beta-plane model of the middle atmosphere is used to analytically examine the effects of radiative cooling and ozone heating on the spatial and temporal evolution of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). Under the assumption that the diabatic heating is weak and the background fields of wind, temperature, and ozone are slowly varying, a perturbation analysis yields expressions describing the vertical spatial modulation of Kelvin and Rossby–gravity waves in the presence of ozone. These expressions show that wave-induced changes in the diabatic heating arising from the advection of basic-state ozone reduce the local radiative damping rate by up to 15% below 35 km. In a one-dimensional model of the QBO, eddy ozone heating increases the amplitude of the zonal wind QBO by 1–2 m s−1 and increases the oscillation period by about two months. The significance of these results to the observed QBO is discussed.