Local stratopause temperature variabilities and their embedding in the global context
The stratopause is by definition the transition between the stratosphere and mesosphere. During winter the circulation at mid-latitudes and high latitudes in the stratosphere is mainly driven by quasi-stationary planetary waves (PWs), while the circulation in the mesosphere is mainly driven by gravi...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:angeo79290 2023-05-15T13:25:07+02:00 Local stratopause temperature variabilities and their embedding in the global context Eixmann, Ronald Matthias, Vivien Höffner, Josef Baumgarten, Gerd Gerding, Michael 2020-03-23 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-373-2020 https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/38/373/2020/ eng eng doi:10.5194/angeo-38-373-2020 https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/38/373/2020/ eISSN: 1432-0576 Text 2020 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-373-2020 2020-07-20T16:22:20Z The stratopause is by definition the transition between the stratosphere and mesosphere. During winter the circulation at mid-latitudes and high latitudes in the stratosphere is mainly driven by quasi-stationary planetary waves (PWs), while the circulation in the mesosphere is mainly driven by gravity waves (GWs). The question arises of whether PWs or GWs dominate the variability of the stratopause. The most famous and dramatic variability of the middle atmosphere is a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) generated by PWs interacting with the polar vortex. A similar phenomenon but smaller in magnitude and more regional is stratopause temperature enhancements (STEs) initially observed by local measurements and generated by breaking PWs. Thus it seems that PWs dominate the variability of the stratopause. In this study we want to quantify to which extent quasi-stationary PWs contribute to the stratopause variability. To do that we combine local lidar observations at Kühlungsborn (54 ∘ N, 11 ∘ E) and Andenes (69 ∘ N, 16 ∘ E) with global MERRA-2 reanalysis data bringing the local variability of the stratopause into the global context. Therefore we compare the temperature time series at Kühlungsborn and Andenes at 2 hPa , the altitude where STEs maximize, with characteristics (amplitude and phase) of PWs with wave numbers 1, 2 and 3. We found that for Kühlungsborn and Andenes 98 % of the local day-to-day variability of the stratopause can be explained by the variability of PWs with wave number 1, 2 and 3. Thus, the winter stratopause day-to-day variability is highly dominated by the variability of PWs. Text Andenes Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Merra ENVELOPE(12.615,12.615,65.816,65.816) Annales Geophysicae 38 2 373 383 |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
The stratopause is by definition the transition between the stratosphere and mesosphere. During winter the circulation at mid-latitudes and high latitudes in the stratosphere is mainly driven by quasi-stationary planetary waves (PWs), while the circulation in the mesosphere is mainly driven by gravity waves (GWs). The question arises of whether PWs or GWs dominate the variability of the stratopause. The most famous and dramatic variability of the middle atmosphere is a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) generated by PWs interacting with the polar vortex. A similar phenomenon but smaller in magnitude and more regional is stratopause temperature enhancements (STEs) initially observed by local measurements and generated by breaking PWs. Thus it seems that PWs dominate the variability of the stratopause. In this study we want to quantify to which extent quasi-stationary PWs contribute to the stratopause variability. To do that we combine local lidar observations at Kühlungsborn (54 ∘ N, 11 ∘ E) and Andenes (69 ∘ N, 16 ∘ E) with global MERRA-2 reanalysis data bringing the local variability of the stratopause into the global context. Therefore we compare the temperature time series at Kühlungsborn and Andenes at 2 hPa , the altitude where STEs maximize, with characteristics (amplitude and phase) of PWs with wave numbers 1, 2 and 3. We found that for Kühlungsborn and Andenes 98 % of the local day-to-day variability of the stratopause can be explained by the variability of PWs with wave number 1, 2 and 3. Thus, the winter stratopause day-to-day variability is highly dominated by the variability of PWs. |
format |
Text |
author |
Eixmann, Ronald Matthias, Vivien Höffner, Josef Baumgarten, Gerd Gerding, Michael |
spellingShingle |
Eixmann, Ronald Matthias, Vivien Höffner, Josef Baumgarten, Gerd Gerding, Michael Local stratopause temperature variabilities and their embedding in the global context |
author_facet |
Eixmann, Ronald Matthias, Vivien Höffner, Josef Baumgarten, Gerd Gerding, Michael |
author_sort |
Eixmann, Ronald |
title |
Local stratopause temperature variabilities and their embedding in the global context |
title_short |
Local stratopause temperature variabilities and their embedding in the global context |
title_full |
Local stratopause temperature variabilities and their embedding in the global context |
title_fullStr |
Local stratopause temperature variabilities and their embedding in the global context |
title_full_unstemmed |
Local stratopause temperature variabilities and their embedding in the global context |
title_sort |
local stratopause temperature variabilities and their embedding in the global context |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-373-2020 https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/38/373/2020/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(12.615,12.615,65.816,65.816) |
geographic |
Merra |
geographic_facet |
Merra |
genre |
Andenes |
genre_facet |
Andenes |
op_source |
eISSN: 1432-0576 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/angeo-38-373-2020 https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/38/373/2020/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-373-2020 |
container_title |
Annales Geophysicae |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
373 |
op_container_end_page |
383 |
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1766383728770154496 |