Long-term trends in temperature of the Arctic atmosphere and their relation to variations of solar activity

The solar activity expressed in its various forms (the total solar irradiance (TSI) and a permanent injection of the solar charged particles called as the solar wind) is considered in this study as a possible candidate capable to influence on the long-term variations of the atmospheric temperature. The data of atmospheric balloon sounding at four polar and subpolar stations were chosen for the study of long-term variations of atmospheric temperature as functions of the solar activity. The experimentally observed long-term trends in variations of the tropospheric and stratospheric temperatures could be related to some extent to the variability of the solar activity. The impact of the solar wind energy on thermal regime of the stratosphere and troposphere in the Arctic could be different due to non-uniformity of electric conductivity of the ground surface as well as to different relations between conductivity of the atmospheric layers and ground surface. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.