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Estimates of the rate of production of excited oxygen atoms due to the photolysis of ozone (<i>J</i>(O¹D)) have been derived from radiation measurements carried out at Cape Grim, Tasmania (40.6° S, 144.7° E). The individual measurements have a total uncertainty of 16 % (1&sigma;). These estimates agree well with model estimates of clear-sky photolysis rates. Observations spanning 2000–2005 have been used to quantify the impact of season, clouds and ozone column amount. The annual cycle of <i>J</i>(O¹D) has been investigated via monthly means. These means show an interannual variation (monthly standard deviation) of 9 %, but in midsummer and midwinter this reduces to 3–5 %. Variations in solar zenith angle and total column ozone explain 86 % of the observed variability in the measured photolysis rates. The impact of total column ozone, expressed as a radiation amplification factor (RAF), is found to be ~ 1.53, in agreement with model estimates. This ozone dependence explains 20 % of the variation observed at medium solar zenith angles (30–50°). The impact of clouds results in a median reduction of 30 % in <i>J</i>(O¹D) for the same solar zenith angle range. Including estimates of cloudiness derived from long-wave radiation measurements resulted in a statistically significant fit to observations, but the quality of the fit did not increase significantly as measured by the adjusted <i>R</i>².