A, J, Miller, M. R.

• Main Authors: Climate Analysis Center, R. W. Zurek, G. L. Manney, M. Gelman, R. Nagatani
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.31.3801; http://jpltrs.jpl.nasa.gov/1995/95-0762.pdf

. Three of the four northern winters since the launch of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite had daily NMC minimum in the lower stratosphere that approached or fell below the lowest values experienced during the previous 13 years. Northern temperature minima on the 465 K were unseasonably low during December 1994 and during a late winter cold spell of an otherwise average 1993-94 winter. Both the and 1994-95 winters were somewhat reminiscent of the winter Antarctic lower stratosphere in that, compared to other northern winters since 1978, they had prolonged spells with low minimum temperatures, their polar vortices were relatively isolated by very strong gradients, and these vortices persisted in the lower stratosphere into spring. Meteorological conditions in both these years were more conducive than in most northern winters since 1978 to formation of polar stratospheric clouds and thus to chlorine activation and associated chemical loss of ozone in the lower stratosphere. In the .