The influence of low-frequency tropospheric dynamics upon column ozone inter-annual variability and trend is estimated in the spring season, with a focus over the Euro-Atlantic sector. This dynamical variability of tropospheric origin is examined in terms of leading climate patterns, derived by applying an empirical orthogonal function analysis to NCEP re-analysis data. In order to fingerprint the spatial and temporal ozone signatures of these patterns, the TOMS satellite observations of column ozone during the last two decades are used. We hence demonstrate that a series of climate pattern modulate ozone variability and trend in middle latitudes, comprising the North Atlantic Oscillation, but also the Scandinavian pattern and European blocking pattern. Ozone anomalies in the range of 5-15 Dobson Units per standard deviation of the patterns are induced by the geopotential anomalies. An hitherto little-known lifting of the Arctic tropopause by the polar night jet [Ambaum and Hoskins, J. Clim., 2002] is also shown to imprint upon the ozone signatures of some patterns.

This dynamical contribution of climate patterns upon the regional ozone trends and inter-annual variability is a manifestation of troposphere-stratosphere interaction. The relative importance, or even the shape of the main patterns of climate variability are likely to change in an evolving atmosphere due to compositional modifications of anthropogenic origin. Understanding the influence of such climate patterns in a changing atmosphere is necessary to assess future local ozone trends.