The relationship of satellite-inferred stratospheric aerosol extinction to the position of the 50-mb north polar jet stream
The relationship between stratospheric aerosols and the location of the north polar night stratospheric jet stream was investigated for selected periods of four successive winters (1979-1982), using measurements from SAM II (Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II) and SAGE I (Stratospheric Aerosol and...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
1988
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19880059899 |
| Summary: | The relationship between stratospheric aerosols and the location of the north polar night stratospheric jet stream was investigated for selected periods of four successive winters (1979-1982), using measurements from SAM II (Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II) and SAGE I (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment I) satellite-borne sun photometers and corresponding meteorological observations. Each period investigated included a polar stratospheric warming during which major dynamic meteorological changes are known to have perturbed the structure of the polar vortex. The analysis of variations in aerosol extinction mixing ratio patterns among winters and during major stratospheric warming events within separate winters showed a well-defined positive gradient in extinction mixing ratio and temperature across the jet stream from the cyclonic side to the anticyclonic side at altitudes between 20 and 30 km during each winter period. Estimates of extinction mixing ratio profiles measured near the center of the polar vortex suggest that a gradual subsidence took place within the polar vortex during at least three of the four winter periods. |
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