CHANGES IN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE QUASI-BIENNIAL OSCILLATION OF ZONAL WIND AND TEMPERATURE IN THE EQUATORIAL LOWER STRATOSPHERE

A diagnosis of cyclic features in the temporal series, including an an alysis of phase portraits and their evolution, is used to study the qu asi-biennial oscillation (QBO) of wind and temperature in the equatori al lower stratosphere in the past decades. On the whole, the amplitude and period of the QBO of zonal wind in the 20- to 15-hPa layer have i ncreased in the past decades. The amplitude and period of the QBO of z onal wind are positively correlated. This relation is most pronounced in the 20- to 10-hPa layer and at the 70-hPa level, and is less pronou nced in the 50- to 30-hPa layer. The conditions are found for the posi tive correlation between the amplitude and period of the QBO in the eq uatorial lower stratosphere for both a two-layer thermodynamic model o f the troposphere-stratosphere system and a model of the Holton-Lindze n type. A possible relationship between the variability of equatorial QBO characteristics and other processes of climatic variability, inclu ding variations in the total ozone in high latitudes, is discussed.