Lagrangian temperature and vertical velocity fluctuations due to gravity waves in the lower stratosphere

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Podglajen, Aurélien, Hertzog, Albert, Plougonven, Riwal, Legras, Bernard
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: gravity waves; cirrus clouds; polar stratospheric clouds; tropical tropopause layer; lower stratosphere; [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01311339; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01311339/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01311339/file/Podglajen_2016_Lagrangian.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068148

International audience Wave-induced Lagrangian fluctuations of temperature and vertical velocity in the lower stratosphere are quantified using measurements from superpressure balloons (SPBs). Observations recorded every minute along SPB flights allow the whole gravity wave spectrum to be described and provide unprecedented information on both the intrinsic frequency spectrum and the probability distribution function of wave fluctuations. The data set has been collected during two campaigns coordinated by the French Space Agency in 2010, involving 19 balloons over Antarctica and 3 in the deep tropics. In both regions, the vertical velocity distributions depart significantly from a Gaussian behavior. Knowledge on such wave fluctuations is essential for modeling microphysical processes along Lagrangian trajectories. We propose a new simple parameterization that reproduces both the non-Gaussian distribution of vertical velocities (or heating/cooling rates) and their observed intrinsic frequency spectrum.