Influence of the Solar Cycle on the General Circulation of the Stratosphere and Upper Troposphere

2007 ◽  
pp. 287-303
Author(s):  
M. L. Salby ◽  
P. F. Callaghan
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cycle ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Upper Troposphere

scholarly journals The HAMMONIA Chemistry Climate Model: Sensitivity of the Mesopause Region to the 11-Year Solar Cycle and CO2 Doubling

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (16) ◽  
pp. 3903-3931 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Schmidt ◽  
G. P. Brasseur ◽  
M. Charron ◽  
E. Manzini ◽  
M. A. Giorgetta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Solar Cycle ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Temperature Response ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Max Planck ◽  
Dynamical Processes ◽  
Mesopause Region ◽  
Height Range

Abstract This paper introduces the three-dimensional Hamburg Model of the Neutral and Ionized Atmosphere (HAMMONIA), which treats atmospheric dynamics, radiation, and chemistry interactively for the height range from the earth’s surface to the thermosphere (approximately 250 km). It is based on the latest version of the ECHAM atmospheric general circulation model of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, which is extended to include important radiative and dynamical processes of the upper atmosphere and is coupled to a chemistry module containing 48 compounds. The model is applied to study the effects of natural and anthropogenic climate forcing on the atmosphere, represented, on the one hand, by the 11-yr solar cycle and, on the other hand, by a doubling of the present-day concentration of carbon dioxide. The numerical experiments are analyzed with the focus on the effects on temperature and chemical composition in the mesopause region. Results include a temperature response to the solar cycle by 2 to 10 K in the mesopause region with the largest values occurring slightly above the summer mesopause. Ozone in the secondary maximum increases by up to 20% for solar maximum conditions. Changes in winds are in general small. In the case of a doubling of carbon dioxide the simulation indicates a cooling of the atmosphere everywhere above the tropopause but by the smallest values around the mesopause. It is shown that the temperature response up to the mesopause is strongly influenced by changes in dynamics. During Northern Hemisphere summer, dynamical processes alone would lead to an almost global warming of up to 3 K in the uppermost mesosphere.

scholarly journals Towards a better representation of the solar cycle in general circulation models

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (20) ◽  
pp. 5391-5400 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Nissen ◽  
K. Matthes ◽  
U. Langematz ◽  
B. Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cycle ◽  
Heating Rate ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Temperature Response ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Short Wave ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Heating Rates ◽  
Radiation Scheme

Abstract. We introduce the improved Freie Universität Berlin (FUB) high-resolution radiation scheme FUBRad and compare it to the 4-band standard ECHAM5 SW radiation scheme of Fouquart and Bonnel (FB). Both schemes are validated against the detailed radiative transfer model libRadtran. FUBRad produces realistic heating rate variations during the solar cycle. The SW heating rate response with the FB scheme is about 20 times smaller than with FUBRad and cannot produce the observed temperature signal. A reduction of the spectral resolution to 6 bands for solar irradiance and ozone absorption cross sections leads to a degradation (reduction) of the solar SW heating rate signal by about 20%. The simulated temperature response agrees qualitatively well with observations in the summer upper stratosphere and mesosphere where irradiance variations dominate the signal. Comparison of the total short-wave heating rates under solar minimum conditions shows good agreement between FUBRad, FB and libRadtran up to the middle mesosphere (60–70 km) indicating that both parameterizations are well suited for climate integrations that do not take solar variability into account. The FUBRad scheme has been implemented as a sub-submodel of the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy).

scholarly journals Thermodynamic control of anvil cloud amount

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (32) ◽  
pp. 8927-8932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrine Bony ◽  
Bjorn Stevens ◽  
David Coppin ◽  
Tobias Becker ◽  
Kevin A. Reed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermodynamic Properties ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Cloud Amount ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Cloud Fraction ◽  
Thermodynamic Control ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
High Clouds ◽  
Enhanced Stability

General circulation models show that as the surface temperature increases, the convective anvil clouds shrink. By analyzing radiative–convective equilibrium simulations, we show that this behavior is rooted in basic energetic and thermodynamic properties of the atmosphere: As the climate warms, the clouds rise and remain at nearly the same temperature, but find themselves in a more stable atmosphere; this enhanced stability reduces the convective outflow in the upper troposphere and decreases the anvil cloud fraction. By warming the troposphere and increasing the upper-tropospheric stability, the clustering of deep convection also reduces the convective outflow and the anvil cloud fraction. When clouds are radiatively active, this robust coupling between temperature, high clouds, and circulation exerts a positive feedback on convective aggregation and favors the maintenance of strongly aggregated atmospheric states at high temperatures. This stability iris mechanism likely contributes to the narrowing of rainy areas as the climate warms. Whether or not it influences climate sensitivity requires further investigation.

scholarly journals Interannual Variations of Wind Regimes off the Subtropical Western Australia Coast during Austral Winter and Spring

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (16) ◽  
pp. 5587-5599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Weller ◽  
Ming Feng ◽  
Harry Hendon ◽  
Jian Ma ◽  
Shang-Ping Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Geopotential Height ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Interannual Variations ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Austral Winter ◽  
Easterly Wind ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Australian Continent

Abstract Off the Western Australia coast, interannual variations of wind regime during the austral winter and spring are significantly correlated with the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) and the southern annular mode (SAM) variability. Atmospheric general circulation model experiments forced by an idealized IOD sea surface temperature anomaly field suggest that the IOD-generated deep atmospheric convection anomalies trigger a Rossby wave train in the upper troposphere that propagates into the southern extratropics and induces positive geopotential height anomalies over southern Australia, independent of the SAM. The positive geopotential height anomalies extended from the upper troposphere to the surface, south of the Australian continent, resulting in easterly wind anomalies off the Western Australia coast and a reduction of the high-frequency synoptic storm events that deliver the majority of southwest Australia rainfall during austral winter and spring. In the marine environment, the wind anomalies and reduction of storm events may hamper the western rock lobster recruitment process.

scholarly journals CAPE Variations in the Current Climate and in a Climate Change

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1997-2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Ye ◽  
Anthony D. Del Genio ◽  
Kenneth K-W. Lo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Relative Humidity ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Lapse Rate ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Current Climate ◽  
The Tropical Pacific

Abstract Observed variations of convective available potential energy (CAPE) in the current climate provide one useful test of the performance of cumulus parameterizations used in general circulation models (GCMs). It is found that frequency distributions of tropical Pacific CAPE, as well as the dependence of CAPE on surface wet-bulb potential temperature (Θw) simulated by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies’s GCM, agree well with that observed during the Australian Monsoon Experiment period. CAPE variability in the current climate greatly overestimates climatic changes in basinwide CAPE in the tropical Pacific in response to a 2°C increase in sea surface temperature (SST) in the GCM because of the different physics involved. In the current climate, CAPE variations in space and time are dominated by regional changes in boundary layer temperature and moisture, which in turn are controlled by SST patterns and large-scale motions. Geographical thermodynamic structure variations in the middle and upper troposphere are smaller because of the canceling effects of adiabatic cooling and subsidence warming in the rising and sinking branches of the Walker and Hadley circulations. In a forced equilibrium global climate change, temperature change is fairly well constrained by the change in the moist adiabatic lapse rate and thus the upper troposphere warms to a greater extent than the surface. For this reason, climate change in CAPE is better predicted by assuming that relative humidity remains constant and that the temperature changes according to the moist adiabatic lapse rate change of a parcel with 80% relative humidity lifted from the surface. The moist adiabatic assumption is not symmetrically applicable to a warmer and colder climate: In a warmer regime moist convection determines the tropical temperature structure, but when the climate becomes colder the effect of moist convection diminishes and the large-scale dynamics and radiative processes become relatively important. Although a prediction based on the change in moist adiabat matches the GCM simulation of climate change averaged over the tropical Pacific basin, it does not match the simulation regionally because small changes in the general circulation change the local boundary layer relative humidity by 1%–2%. Thus, the prediction of regional climate change in CAPE is also dependent on subtle changes in the dynamics.

scholarly journals Aerosol nucleation over oceans and the role of galactic cosmic rays

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 5543-5583 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kazil ◽  
E. R. Lovejoy ◽  
M. C. Barth ◽  
K. O’Brien
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Solar Cycle ◽  
Cosmic Rays ◽  
Cloud Cover ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Galactic Cosmic Rays ◽  
Sulfate Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Upper Troposphere

Abstract. We investigate formation of sulfate aerosol in the marine troposphere from neutral and charged nucleation of H2SO4 and H2O. A box model of neutral and charged aerosol processes is run on a grid covering the oceans. Input data are taken from a model of galactic cosmic rays in the atmosphere, and from global chemistry and transport models. We find a weak aerosol production over the tropical oceans in the lower and middle troposphere, and a stronger production at higher latitudes, most notably downwind of industrial regions. The highest aerosol production, however, occurs in the upper troposphere, in particular in the tropics. This finding supports the proposition by which non-sea salt marine boundary layer aerosol in tropical regions does not form in situ, but nucleates in the upper troposphere from convectively lifted and cloud processed boundary layer air rich in aerosol precursor gases, from where it descends in subsiding air masses compensating convection. Convection of boundary layer air also appears to drive the formation of condensation nuclei in the tropical upper troposphere which maintains the stratospheric aerosol layer in the absence of volcanic activity. Neutral nucleation contributes only marginally to aerosol production in our simulations. This highlights the importance of charged binary and of ternary nucleation involving ammonia for aerosol formation. In clean marine regions however, ammonia concentrations seem too low to support ternary nucleation, making binary nucleation from ions a likely pathway for sulfate aerosol formation. On the other hand, our analysis indicates that the variation of ionization by galactic cosmic rays over the decadal solar cycle does not entail a response in aerosol production and cloud cover via the second indirect aerosol effect that would explain observed variations in global cloud cover. We estimate that the variation in radiative forcing resulting from a response of clouds to the change in galactic cosmic ray ionization and subsequent aerosol production over the decadal solar cycle is smaller than the concurrent variation of total solar irradiance.

scholarly journals The impact of the 1783–1784 AD Laki eruption on global aerosol formation processes and cloud condensation nuclei

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 3189-3228
Author(s):  
A. Schmidt ◽  
K. S. Carslaw ◽  
G. W. Mann ◽  
B. M. Wilson ◽  
T. J. Breider ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Microphysical Processes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The 1783–1784 AD Laki flood lava eruption commenced on 8 June 1783 and released 122 Tg of sulphur dioxide gas over the course of 8 months into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere above Iceland. Previous studies have examined the impact of the Laki eruption on sulphate aerosol and climate using general circulation models. Here, we study the impact on aerosol microphysical processes, including the nucleation of new particles and their growth to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) using a comprehensive Global Model of Aerosol Processes (GLOMAP). Total particle concentrations in the free troposphere increase by a factor ~16 over large parts of the Northern Hemisphere in the 3 months following the onset of the eruption. Particle concentrations in the boundary layer increase by a factor 2 to 5 in regions as far away as North America, the Middle East and Asia due to long-range transport of nucleated particles. CCN concentrations (at 0.22% supersaturation) increase by a factor 65 in the upper troposphere with maximum changes in 3-month zonal mean concentrations of ~1400 cm−3 at high northern latitudes. 3-month zonal mean CCN concentrations in the boundary layer at the latitude of the eruption increase by up to a factor 26, and averaged over the Northern Hemisphere, the eruption caused a factor 4 increase in CCN concentrations at low-level cloud altitude. The simulations show that the Laki eruption would have completely dominated as a source of CCN in the pre-industrial atmosphere. The model also suggests an impact of the eruption in the Southern Hemisphere, where CCN concentrations are increased by up to a factor 1.4 at 20° S. Our model simulations suggest that the impact of an equivalent wintertime eruption on upper tropospheric CCN concentrations is only about one-third of that of a summertime eruption. The simulations show that the microphysical processes leading to the growth of particles to CCN sizes are fundamentally different after an eruption when compared to the unperturbed atmosphere, underlining the importance of using a fully coupled microphysics model when studying long-lasting, high-latitude eruptions.

scholarly journals Forcing of the Upper-Tropospheric Monsoon Anticyclones

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 1937-1954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leong Wai Siu ◽  
Kenneth P. Bowman
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation ◽  
Asian Monsoon ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
North American Monsoon ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Forcing Mechanisms ◽  
Good Agreement

Abstract During the boreal warm season (May–September), the circulation in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere is dominated by two large anticyclones: the Asian monsoon anticyclone (AMA) and North American monsoon anticyclone (NAMA). The existence of the AMA has long been linked to Asian monsoon precipitation using the Matsuno–Gill framework, but the origin of the NAMA has not been clearly understood. Here the forcing mechanisms of the NAMA are investigated using a simplified dry general circulation model. The simulated anticyclones are in good agreement with observations when the model is forced by a zonally symmetric meridional temperature gradient plus a realistic geographical distribution of heating based on observed tropical and subtropical precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere. Model experiments show that the AMA and NAMA are largely independent of one another, and the NAMA is not a downstream response to the Asian monsoon. The primary forcing of the NAMA is precipitation in the longitude sector between 60° and 120°W, with the largest contribution coming from the subtropical latitudes within that sector. Experiments with idealized regional heating distributions reveal that the extratropical response to tropical and subtropical precipitation depends approximately linearly on the magnitude of the forcing but nonlinearly on its latitude. The AMA is stronger than the NAMA, primarily because precipitation in the subtropics over Asia is much heavier than at similar latitudes in the Western Hemisphere.

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