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Through three examples taken from the history of ozone research, this paper illustrates that knowledge has been created by using simultaneously different approaches and methodologies, and by confronting the information resulting from laboratory studies, observational programs and modeling activities. New knowledge on chemical and dynamical processes in the atmosphere has been produced from detailed studies of the vertical and meridional ozone distributions in the stratosphere, and from investigations on the cause of the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole.

Recent satellite observations show that the solar ultraviolet irradiance is much more variable than the total solar irradiance. Atmospheric effects of the solar irradiance variations during 11-year solar activity cycle are investigated using different numerical models and observation data sets. It is shown that the direct and indirect (via ozone production) heating in the upper and middle stratosphere due to enhancement of the solar spectral irradiance leads to an acceleration of the polar night jets and suppression of the Brewer-Dobson circulation resulting in the ozone increase and warming of the lower tropical stratosphere. These stratospheric changes alter the tropospheric circulation leading to a statistically significant warming of the surface air over Russia, Europe and North America. The importance of the solar spectral irradiance variability for the attribution of the temperature changes in the upper stratosphere is also shown by the comparison of the simulated and observed temperature evolution during the last 25 years of the 20th century.

Some solar eruptions lead to solar proton events (SPEs) at the Earth, which typically last a few days. High energy solar protons associated with SPEs precipitate on the Earth’s atmosphere and cause increases in odd hydrogen (HO) and odd nitrogen (NO) in the polar cap regions (>60° geomagnetic). The enhanced HO leads to short-lived ozone depletion (~days) due to the short lifetime of HO constituents. The enhanced NO leads to long-lived ozone changes because of the long lifetime of the NO family in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere. Very large SPEs occurred in 1972, 1989, 2000, 2001, and 2003 and were predicted to cause maximum total ozone depletions of 1–3%, which lasted for several months to years past the events. A long-term data set of solar proton fluxes used in these computations has been compiled for the time period 1963–2005. Several satellites, including the NASA Interplanetary Monitoring Platforms (1963–1993) and the NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (1994–2005), have been used to compile this data set.

The 11-year sunspot cycle (SSC) strongly affects the lower stratosphere. However, in order to detect the solar signal it is necessary to group the data according to the phase of the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO). Although this is valid throughout the year the effect of the SSC and the QBO on the stratosphere was largest during the northern winters (January/February). As the stratosphere can affect weather at the ground, the SSC effect on the lower stratosphere might provide a mechanism for solar-climate links. Here we analyse an extended, 65-year long data set of solar variability, QBO, and lower stratospheric dynamics. The results fully confirm earlier findings and suggest a significant effect of the SSC on the strength of the stratospheric polar vortex and on the mean meridional circulation.