Statistical study of different solar activity features with total column ozone at two hill stations of Uttarakhand

Abstract

This paper presents a statistical study of different solar activity features (DSAF), viz. sunspot number (SN), solar active prominences (SAP), solar flares (SF) and solar proton events (SPE) with total column ozone (TCO) amount using 28 years (1986-2013) data. The ozone data has been taken for two hill stations of Uttarakhand, viz. Nainital (29º23'N, 79º27'E) and Mussoorie (30°27'N, 78°06'E). The study reveals a positive correlation between yearly averaged TCO and DSAF. The value of linear correlation coefficient (r) for TCO-Nainital with SN, SAP, SF and SPE is found to be 0.51, 0.30, 0.49, and 0.54, respectively and for TCO-Mussoorie with SN, SAP, SF, SPE is found to be 0.45, 0.27, 0.44, and 0.51, respectively. This supports the fact that solar activity features contribute to the production of ozone. Also the trend in TCO over both the stations annually, monthly and seasonally has been studied. A negative trend is observed indicating a decrease in the ozone concentration over these stations in given time period.