A climatology of frozen-in anticyclones in the spring arctic stratosphere over the period 1960-2011

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
• Main Authors: Thiéblemont, Rémi, Orsolini, Yvan J., Hauchecorne, Alain, Drouin, Marc-Antoine, Huret, Nathalie
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales Paris (CNES), Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), STRATO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Services communs OMP (UMS 831), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ANR-10-LABX-0100,VOLTAIRE,Geofluids and Volatil elements – Earth, Atmosphere, Interfaces – Resources and Environment(2010), ANR-08-BLAN-0300,StraPolEté,Dynamique, aérosols et brome dans la stratosphère polaire en été(2008), European Project: 226365,EC:FP7:ENV,FP7-ENV-2008-1,RECONCILE(2009)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: Tropics/Poles Couplings; Stratosphere; Frozen-In Anticyclones; Transport; Climatology; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Arctic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00778276; https://hal.science/hal-00778276/document; https://hal.science/hal-00778276/file/jgrd50156.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50156

International audience During springtime, following the stratospheric final warming, intrusions from low latitudes can become trapped at polar latitudes in long-lived anticyclones. Such "frozen-in" anticyclones (FrIACs) have occasionally been observed to persist as late as August, advected by summer easterlies. In this study, the high-resolution advection contour model MIMOSA is used to advect a pseudo-potential vorticity tracer. The model is driven by ERA-40 and the ERA-Interim reanalyses over the period 1960-2011. We first identify a remarkable FrIAC event in spring 2011. In addition, we developed a method to detect the characteristic size of low-latitude intrusions into the polar region at the time of the spring transition, over the period 1960-2011. Years are classified as either Type-A when the intrusions are small, or as Type-B when intrusions are large, potentially evolving into FrIACs. For a FrIAC to occur, we require an additional criterion based on the in-phase character of the core of the intrusions and the anticyclone. During the 52 analysed years, 9 events have been identified: 1 in the 1960s, 1 in the 1980s, 2 in the 1990s and 5 from 2002. FrIAC are predominantly long-lived intrusions, which occur in association with abrupt and early reversal to summer easterlies with a large heat flux pulse around the date of this wind reversal. Finally, the results are discussed in a climatological context.