Comment on "Enhanced upper stratospheric ozone: Sign of recovery or solar cycle effect?"

[01] Steinbrecht et al. [2004] (hereinafter referred to as S4) have discussed the trend in upper stratospheric ozone at 35 -45-km altitude determined from their lidar measurements at Hohenpeissenberg (47.8degN, 11.0degE) from 1987 to 2003. They question the conclusion of Newchurch et al. [2003] (hereinafter referred to as N3) that after approximately 1997 the downward trend of upper stratospheric ozone at 35-45-km altitude has diminished significantly. They argue instead that recent ozone changes are associated with the recent solar maximum (i.e., the solar cycle effect on ozone). In this comment we question their procedure for identifying the solar cycle effect. Moreover, we argue that the solar cycle effect was appropriately accounted for in the N3 analysis, and we buttress our argument by demonstrating that the more extensive data set used by N3 shows that the trend in upper stratospheric ozone has diminished significantly since 1997 and that this is evidence of the first stage of ozone recovery.