Investigations of the solar influence on middle atmospheric water vapour and ozone during the last solar cycle - analysis of the MPS data set

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In this proposal we intend to analyze and interpret a data set of middle atmospheric water vapour and ozone derived from ground-based microwave observations at Lindau (51 N, 10 E) and ALOMAR (69 N, 16E). The data set is unique in that it covers a full solar cycle and provides insight into processes happening only in the polar area. We want to investigate if there is an influence of solar variability on long and short time scales (solar cycle, solar rotation period, coronal mass ejections, solar proton events) on the middle atmospheric water vapour and ozone and in which way the interrelation between these gases may be influenced (or triggered) by the solar variability. Specific science objectives are: is there any (anti-)correlation between water vapour/ozone and the solar UV radiation in the data? Does the sensitivity on solar variability depend on the season and if so how strong is the influence? How does the water vapour concentration influence the amplitudes of the tertiary ozone maximum and the winter anomaly in the night-to-day ratio of ozone? How does the temperature dependence of ozone chemistry change with variable solar UV input and how does it influence the feedback between the ozone concentration and the ozone dissociation rate? Can the middle atmospheric ozone concentration be the missing link explaining a correlation between solar UV radiation and sudden stratospheric warmings?