Abstract

In this paper we investigate response of the total ozone column to energetic electron precipitation (EEP) observed by bremsstrahlung effect. The list of EEP events was prepared by members of the balloon experiments of the Lebedev Physical Institute. Here we used superposed epoch analysis and the days with EEP events are registered during winter (November–February) and summer (June–August) months from 1970 to 2012 were chosen as key dates. This period corresponds approximately to three solar cycles. Data of the total ozone column were collected by single coherent total ozone dataset, called the Multi Sensor Reanalysis (MSR). A long series of data of the total ozone column is allowed us to study the response of ozone content to 90 winter and 103 summer EEP events. The obtained ozone sensitivity to the events of energetic electron precipitation is clearly pronounced during local winters in the high latitudes of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (60–80 NH and 60–80 SH). In the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, during winter months, the total ozone content can be reduced by up to 10 DU after energetic electron precipitation with minimum observed on the first day after EEP events. Response of the total ozone, over high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, to EEP events can be opposite during summer months.