Abstract. Measurements from 2002 to 2011 by three independent satellite instruments, namely MIPAS, SABER, and SMR on board the ENVISAT, TIMED, and Odin satellites are used to investigate the intra-seasonal variability of stratospheric and mesospheric O₃ volume mixing ratio (vmr) inside the Antarctic polar vortex due to solar and geomagnetic activity. In this study, we individually analysed the relative O₃ vmr variations between maximum and minimum conditions of a number of solar and geomagnetic indices (F10.7 cm solar radio flux, Ap index, ≥ 2 MeV electron flux). The indices are 26-day averages centred at 1 April, 1 May, and 1 June while O₃ is based on 26-day running means from 1 April to 1 November at altitudes from 20 to 70 km. During solar quiet time from 2005 to 2010, the composite of all three instruments reveals an apparent negative O₃ signal associated to the geomagnetic activity (Ap index) around 1 April, on average reaching amplitudes between −5 and −10% of the respective O₃ background. The O₃ response exceeds the significance level of 95% and propagates downwards throughout the polar winter from the stratopause down to ~ 25 km. These observed results are in good qualitative agreement with the O₃ vmr pattern simulated with a three-dimensional chemistry-transport model, which includes particle impact ionisation.