scholarly journals Variation of Small‐Scale Gravity Wave Activity in the Ionosphere During the Major Sudden Stratospheric Warming Event of 2009

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 470-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chinmaya Nayak ◽  
Erdal Yiğit
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (18) ◽  
pp. 10791-10806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Schranz ◽  
Jonas Hagen ◽  
Gunter Stober ◽  
Klemens Hocke ◽  
Axel Murk ◽  
...  

Abstract. Middle atmospheric ozone, water vapour and zonal and meridional wind profiles have been measured with the two ground-based microwave radiometers GROMOS-C and MIAWARA-C. The instruments have been located at the Arctic research base AWIPEV at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (79∘ N, 12∘ E), since September 2015. GROMOS-C measures ozone spectra in the four cardinal directions with an elevation angle of 22∘. This means that the probed air masses at an altitude of 3 hPa (37 km) have a horizontal distance of 92 km to Ny-Ålesund. We retrieve four separate ozone profiles along the lines of sight and calculate daily mean horizontal ozone gradients which allow us to investigate the small-scale spatial variability of ozone above Ny-Ålesund. We present the evolution of the ozone gradients at Ny-Ålesund during winter 2018/2019, when a major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) took place with the central date at 2 January, and link it to the planetary wave activity. We further analyse the SSW and discuss our ozone and water vapour measurements in a global context. At 3 hPa we find a distinct seasonal variation of the ozone gradients. The strong polar vortex during October and March results in a decreasing ozone volume mixing ratio towards the pole. In November the amplitudes of the planetary waves grow until they break in the end of December and an SSW takes place. From November until February ozone increases towards higher latitudes and the magnitude of the ozone gradients is smaller than in October and March. We attribute this to the planetary wave activity of wave numbers 1 and 2 which enabled meridional transport. The MERRA-2 reanalysis and the SD-WACCM model are able to capture the small-scale ozone variability and its seasonal changes.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Schoon ◽  
Christoph Zülicke

Abstract. Commonly, wave quantities are maintained in zonal mean averages. Hence, local wave phenomena remain unclear. Here, we introduce a diagnostic tool for studies of wave packets locally. The "Unified Wave Diagnosis" (UWaDi) uses the Hilbert Transform to obtain a complex signal from a real-valued function and estimates the amplitude and wave number locally. Operational data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is used to perform the analysis. Restrictions on gravity wave propagation due to model sponge layers are identified well above the 10 hPa altitude. From a minor stratospheric warming in January 2016 three cases for vertical gravity wave propagation in different background wind conditions are selected. It is shown that zonal mean wind quantities cannot reveal local "valves" allowing gravity waves to propagate into the mid-stratosphere. The unexpected finding of high gravity wave activity at the minor warming of 30 January 2016 is related to strong planetary wave activity and a strong local "pump". Accordingly, the advantages of a local wave packet analysis are demonstrated for profiles up to the model sponge layer.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (14) ◽  
pp. 9381-9397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Hoffmann ◽  
Alison W. Grimsdell ◽  
M. Joan Alexander

Abstract. Stratospheric gravity waves from small-scale orographic sources are currently not well-represented in general circulation models. This may be a reason why many simulations have difficulty reproducing the dynamical behavior of the Southern Hemisphere polar vortex in a realistic manner. Here we discuss a 12-year record (2003–2014) of stratospheric gravity wave activity at Southern Hemisphere orographic hotspots as observed by the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) aboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Aqua satellite. We introduce a simple and effective approach, referred to as the “two-box method”, to detect gravity wave activity from infrared nadir sounder measurements and to discriminate between gravity waves from orographic and other sources. From austral mid-fall to mid-spring (April–October) the contributions of orographic sources to the observed gravity wave occurrence frequencies were found to be largest for the Andes (90 %), followed by the Antarctic Peninsula (76 %), Kerguelen Islands (73 %), Tasmania (70 %), New Zealand (67 %), Heard Island (60 %), and other hotspots (24–54 %). Mountain wave activity was found to be closely correlated with peak terrain altitudes, and with zonal winds in the lower troposphere and mid-stratosphere. We propose a simple model to predict the occurrence of mountain wave events in the AIRS observations using zonal wind thresholds at 3 and 750 hPa. The model has significant predictive skill for hotspots where gravity wave activity is primarily due to orographic sources. It typically reproduces seasonal variations of the mountain wave occurrence frequencies at the Antarctic Peninsula and Kerguelen Islands from near zero to over 60 % with mean absolute errors of 4–5 percentage points. The prediction model can be used to disentangle upper level wind effects on observed occurrence frequencies from low-level source and other influences. The data and methods presented here can help to identify interesting case studies in the vast amount of AIRS data, which could then be further explored to study the specific characteristics of stratospheric gravity waves from orographic sources and to support model validation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 144 (4) ◽  
pp. 1321-1339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah E. Attard ◽  
Rosimar Rios-Berrios ◽  
Corey T. Guastini ◽  
Andrea L. Lang

Abstract This paper investigates the tropospheric and stratospheric precursors to a major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) that began on 6 January 2013. Using the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis dataset, the analysis identified two distinct decelerations of the 10-hPa zonal mean zonal wind at 65°N in December in addition to the major SSW, which occurred on 6 January 2013 when the 10-hPa zonal mean zonal wind at 65°N reversed from westerly to easterly. The analysis shows that the two precursor events preconditioned the stratosphere for the SSW. Analysis of the tropospheric state in the days leading to the precursor events and the major SSW suggests that high-latitude tropospheric blocks occurred in the days prior to the two December deceleration events, but not in the days prior to the SSW. A detailed wave activity flux (WAF) analysis suggests that the tropospheric blocking prior to the two December deceleration events contributed to an anomalously positive 40-day-average 100-hPa zonal mean meridional eddy heat flux prior to the SSW. Analysis of the stratospheric structure in the days prior to the SSW reveals that the SSW was associated with enhanced WAF in the upper stratosphere, planetary wave breaking, and an upper-stratospheric/lower-mesospheric disturbance. These results suggest that preconditioning of the stratosphere occurred as a result of WAF initiated by tropospheric blocking associated with the two December deceleration events. The two December deceleration events occurred in the 40 days prior to the SSW and led to the amplification of wave activity in the upper stratosphere and wave resonance that caused the January 2013 SSW.


2020 ◽  
pp. 241-254
Author(s):  
A.I. Pogoreltsev ◽  
O.G. Aniskina ◽  
A.Y. Kanukhina ◽  
T.S. Ermakova ◽  
A.I. Ugryumov ◽  
...  

Analysis of the dynamical regime changes in the stratosphere during different phases of the Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) that has been observed in January 2013 is presented. The different mechanisms of SSW influence on the tropospheric circulation through the stationary planetary waves (SPWs) reflection and/or increase in SPWs activity due to nonlinear interaction with the mean flow and their subsequent propagation into the troposphere are discussed. Three-dimensional wave activity flux and its divergence are determined using the UK Met Office data; the synoptic situation and its changes during the SSW events are analyzed. The wave activity penetrates downward from stratosphere into the troposphere and can affect weather processes during the SSW and right afterwards. It is this time that polar anticyclones can be formed at high latitudes, which quickly go southward along meridional directions and then deviate to the East at middle latitudes. Interestingly, the locations of polar anticyclone formations and subsequent displacements correspond to the regions of maximal horizontal wave activity fluxes connected with stratospheric processes. The results obtained allow us to suggest that accounting of stratospheric processes and their influence on the troposphere in winter season can improve the middle-range forecast of anticyclone formation and cold weather events at middle latitudes.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Dörnbrack ◽  
Tyler Mixa ◽  
Bernd Kaifler ◽  
Markus Rapp

<p>At the end of the austral winter 2019, a sudden stratospheric warming led to an early breakdown of the polar vortex. The meteorological conditions during this event are documented and analysed by means of operational analyses of the Intgrated Forecast System (IFS) of the ECMWF and ERA5 data. Especially, we focus on the decline of stratospheric wave activity over the southern tip of South America. For this region, ground-based and airborne measurements are employed to compare selected diagnostics with fields from the ECMWF's numerical weather prediction model IFS. Furthmore, the meteorological conditions for one selected research flight during the SOUTHTRAC campaign are presented. This part serves as background information for a case study presented by Tyler Mixa.</p>


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 875
Author(s):  
Masakazu Taguchi

This study investigates false alarms of a major sudden stratospheric warming (MSSW) by real-time subseasonal-to-seasonal forecast data of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts system for the 2017/2018 Northern Hemisphere winter season. The analysis reveals two false alarm cases in the season, one in early December and the other in early February. Each case is characterized by ensembles of which a considerable part of the members (MSSW members) show an MSSW, that is, reversal of the zonal mean zonal wind in the extratropical stratosphere on similar calendar dates. Ensemble forecasts that are initialized earlier or later basically lack an MSSW, demonstrating clear intraseasonal variability in the frequency of forecasted MSSWs. For each false alarm case, the MSSW member mean field shows equatorward displacement of the polar vortex around the onset date. For both cases, the MSSW members accompany stronger wave activity in the lower stratosphere than other non-MSSW members and reanalysis data. They are further associated with higher geopotential height than the non-MSSW members, in the upper troposphere over northeastern Canada and Greenland before the first case, and lower height over northeastern Eurasia before the second case. These are located over the ridge and trough, respectively, of the climatological planetary wave of zonal wave number one, and are consistent with the increased wave activity.


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