title: Time-asymmetric fluctuations in the atmosphere: daily mean temperatures and total-column ozone.
abstract: Fluctuations breaking time-reversal symmetry are common attributes of dissipative systems operating far from equilibrium. Recent developments in non-equilibrium statistical physics represent a significant step towards an understanding of how time-reversible microscopic laws can yield to inherent irreversibility on meso- or macroscopic scales. Most of the theoretical conclusions consider quantities (e.g. entropy production) that are difficult to obtain with an appropriate accuracy in real systems. Probably less-complicated measures, such as the simple step-number ratio used in this work, can also help to characterize time-asymmetric fluctuations. In the first part, we give a short summary of recent results on asymmetric daily mean temperature changes. The second part discusses total-column ozone fluctuations, where statistically significant asymmetries are also detected. A detailed correlation analysis of ozone signals and high-altitude temperature records supports the strong coupling between tropospheric dynamics and stratospheric processes on synoptic time scales.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. s. 1/A, 1117 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Péter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.forename: Imre M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Jánosi
mesh_terms: D001272:Atmosphere / Q000032:analysis*; D002980:Climate; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D010126:Ozone; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010126:Ozone