Long‐Term Changes in the Northern Midwinter Middle Atmosphere in Relation to the Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation

This study analyses long-term trends in temperature and wind climatology based on ERA5 data. We study climatology and trends separately for every decade from 1980 to 2020 and their changes during this period. This study is focused on the pressure levels between 100–1 hPa, which essentially covers the whole stratosphere. We also analyze the impact of the sudden stratospheric warmings (SSW), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). This helps us to find details of climatology and trend behavior in the stratosphere in connection to these phenomena. ERA5 is one of the newest reanalysis, which is widely used for the middle atmosphere. We identify the largest differences which occur between 1990–2000 and 2000–2010 in both temperature climatology and trends. We suggest that these differences could relate to the different occurrence frequency of SSWs in 1990–2000 versus 2000–2010.

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Development of a climate record of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone from satellite remote sensing: evidence of an early recovery of global stratospheric ozone

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-12-3169-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 3169-3211

Author(s):

J. R. Ziemke ◽

S. Chandra

Keyword(s):

Climate Models ◽

Stratospheric Ozone ◽

Steady Increase ◽

Ozone Monitoring Instrument ◽

Early Recovery ◽

Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽

Time Record ◽

The Tropics ◽

Biennial Oscillation

Abstract. Ozone data beginning October 2004 from the Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) are used to evaluate the accuracy of the Cloud Slicing technique in effort to develop long data records of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone and for studying their long-term changes. Using this technique, we have produced a 32-yr (1979–2010) long record of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone from the combined Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and OMI. The analyses of these time series suggest that the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is the dominant source of inter-annual variability of stratospheric ozone and is clearest in the Southern Hemisphere during the Aura time record with related inter-annual changes of 30–40 Dobson Units. Tropospheric ozone also indicates a QBO signal in the tropics with peak-to-peak changes varying from 2 to 7 DU. The stratospheric ozone record indicates a steady increase since the mid-1990's with current ozone levels comparable to the mid-1980's. This is earlier than predicted by many of the current climate models which suggest recovery to the mid-1980's levels by year 2020 or later.

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Trends and variability in stratospheric mixing: 1979–2005

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-7-6189-2007 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 6189-6228 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

H. Garny ◽

G. E. Bodeker ◽

M. Dameris

Keyword(s):

Solar Cycle ◽

Lyapunov Exponents ◽

Annual Cycle ◽

Degradation Products ◽

Southern Oscillation ◽

Trace Gases ◽

High Latitudes ◽

Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽

Long Term Changes

Abstract. Changes in climate are likely to drive changes in stratospheric mixing with associated implications for changes in transport of ozone from tropical source regions to higher latitudes, transport of water vapour and source gas degradation products from the tropical tropopause layer into the mid-latitude lower stratosphere, and changes in the meridional distribution of long-lived trace gases. To diagnose long-term changes in stratospheric mixing, global monthly fields of Lyapunov exponents were calculated on the 450 K, 550 K, and 650 K isentropic surfaces by applying a trajectory model to wind fields from NCEP/NCAR reanalyses over the period 1979 to 2005. Potential underlying geophysical drivers of trends and variability in these mixing fields were investigated by applying a least squares regression model, which included basis functions for a mean annual cycle, seasonally dependent linear trends, the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), the solar cycle, and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), to zonal mean time series of the Lyapunov exponents. Long-term positive trends in mixing are apparent over southern middle to high latitudes at 450 K through most of the year, while negative trends over southern high latitudes are apparent at 650 K from May to August. Wintertime negative trends in mixing over northern mid-latitudes are apparent at 550 K and 650 K. Over low latitudes, within 40° of the equator, the QBO exerts a strong influence on mixing at all three analysis levels. This QBO influence is strongly modulated by the annual cycle and shows a phase shift across the subtropical mixing barrier. Solar cycle and ENSO influences on mixing are generally not significant. The diagnosed long-term changes in mixing should aid the interpretation of trends in stratospheric trace gases.

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The Seasonal Cycle of Gravity Wave Drag in the Middle Atmosphere

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/2008jcli2006.1 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 21 (18) ◽

pp. 4664-4679 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Manuel Pulido ◽

John Thuburn

Keyword(s):

Gravity Wave ◽

Seasonal Cycle ◽

Middle Atmosphere ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Wave Drag ◽

Smooth Transition ◽

Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽

Summer Hemisphere ◽

Jet Streaks ◽

Biennial Oscillation

Abstract Using a variational technique, middle atmosphere gravity wave drag (GWD) is estimated from Met Office middle atmosphere analyses for the year 2002. The technique employs an adjoint model of a middle atmosphere dynamical model to minimize a cost function that measures the differences between the model state and observations. The control variables are solely the horizontal components of GWD; therefore, the minimization determines the optimal estimate of the drag. For each month, Met Office analyses are taken as the initial condition for the first day of the month, and also as observations for each successive day. In this way a three-dimensional GWD field is obtained for the entire year with a temporal resolution of 1 day. GWD shows a pronounced seasonal cycle. During solstices, there are deceleration regions of the polar jet centered at about 63° latitude in the winter hemisphere, with a peak of 49 m s−1 day−1 at 0.24 hPa in the Southern Hemisphere; the summer hemisphere also shows a deceleration region but much weaker, with a peak of 24 m s−1 day−1 centered at 45° latitude and 0.6 hPa. During equinoxes GWD is weak and exhibits a smooth transition between the winter and summer situation. The height and latitude of the deceleration center in both winter and summer hemispheres appear to be constant. Important longitudinal dependencies in GWD are found that are related to planetary wave activity; GWD intensifies in the exit region of jet streaks. In the lower tropical stratosphere, the estimated GWD shows a westward GWD descending together with the westward phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation. Above, GWD exhibits a semiannual pattern that is approximately out of phase with the semiannual oscillation in the zonal wind. Furthermore, a descending GWD pattern is found at those heights, similar in magnitude and sign to that in the lower stratosphere.

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Lidar observations of middle atmosphere temperature variability

Annales Geophysicae ◽

10.1007/s00585-995-0648-0 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 648-655 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

G. P. Gobbi ◽

C. Souprayen ◽

F. Congeduti ◽

G. Di Donfrancesco ◽

A. Adriani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cycle ◽

Middle Atmosphere ◽

Atmospheric Temperature ◽

Temperature Variability ◽

Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽

Temperature Trends ◽

Atmosphere Temperature ◽

Reference Atmosphere ◽

Lidar Observations ◽

Biennial Oscillation

Abstract. We discuss 223 middle atmosphere lidar temperature observations. The record was collected at Frascati (42°N–13°E), during the 41-month period January 1989-May 1992, corresponding to the maximum of solar cycle 22. The choice of this interval was aimed at minimizing the temperature variability induced by the 11-year solar cycle. The average climatology over the 41-month period and comparison with a reference atmosphere (CIRA86) are presented. Monthly temperature variability over the full period, during opposite quasi-biennial oscillation phases and on a short-term scale (0.5–4 h), is analyzed. Results indicate the 50–55-km region as less affected by variability caused by the natural phenomena considered in the analysis. Due to this minimum in natural noise characterizing the atmospheric temperature just above the stratopause, observations of that region are well suited to the detection of possible temperature trends induced by industrial activities.

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Assessment of the ERA-Interim Winds Using High-Altitude Stratospheric Balloons

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences ◽

10.1175/jas-d-16-0137.1 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 74 (6) ◽

pp. 2065-2080 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Fabrice Duruisseau ◽

Nathalie Huret ◽

Alice Andral ◽

Claude Camy-Peyret

Keyword(s):

Wind Speed ◽

High Altitude ◽

Middle Atmosphere ◽

Meridional Wind ◽

Horizontal Wind ◽

Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽

Wind Variability ◽

Wind Measurements ◽

Biennial Oscillation ◽

Balloon Measurements

Abstract This study focuses on the ability of ERA-Interim to represent wind variability in the middle atmosphere. The originality of the proposed approach is that wind measurements are deduced from the trajectories of zero-pressure balloons that can reach high-stratospheric altitudes. These balloons are mainly used to carry large scientific payloads. The trajectories of balloons launched above Esrange, Sweden, and Teresina, Brazil, from 2000 to 2011 were used to deduce zonal and meridional wind components (by considering the balloon as a perfect tracer at high altitude). Collected data cover several dynamical conditions associated with the winter and summer polar seasons and west and east phases of the quasi-biennial oscillation at the equator. Systematic comparisons between measurements and ERA-Interim data were performed for the two horizontal wind components, as well as wind speed and wind direction in the [100, 2]-hPa pressure range to deduce biases between the model and balloon measurements as a function of altitude. Results show that whatever the location and the geophysical conditions considered, biases between ERA-Interim and balloon wind measurements increase as a function of altitude. The standard deviation of the model–observation wind differences can attain more than 5 m s−1 at high altitude (pressure P < 20 hPa). A systematic ERA-Interim underestimation of the wind speed is observed and large biases are highlighted, especially for equatorial flights.

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Indications of long-term changes in middle atmosphere transports

Advances in Space Research ◽

10.1016/s0273-1177(03)90462-5 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 32 (9) ◽

pp. 1675-1684 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

D. Offermannl ◽

M. Donner ◽

P. Knieling ◽

K. Hamilton ◽

A. Menzel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Middle Atmosphere ◽

Long Term Changes

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Empirical model of vertical structure of the middle atmosphere: Seasonal variations and long-term changes of temperature and number density

Advances in Space Research ◽

10.1016/j.asr.2006.02.079 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 38 (11) ◽

pp. 2465-2469

Author(s):

N.N. Pertsev ◽

A.I. Semenov ◽

N.N. Shefov

Keyword(s):

Empirical Model ◽

Seasonal Variations ◽

Vertical Structure ◽

Middle Atmosphere ◽

Number Density ◽

Long Term Changes

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Zonal-Mean Dynamics of Extended Recoveries from Stratospheric Sudden Warmings

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences ◽

10.1175/jas-d-12-0111.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 70 (2) ◽

pp. 688-707 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Peter Hitchcock ◽

Theodore G. Shepherd

Keyword(s):

Middle Atmosphere ◽

Polar Vortex ◽

The Arctic ◽

Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽

Planetary Scale ◽

Stratospheric Sudden Warmings ◽

Quasigeostrophic Model ◽

Mean Circulation ◽

Jet Oscillation ◽

Biennial Oscillation

Abstract The recovery of the Arctic polar vortex following stratospheric sudden warmings is found to take upward of 3 months in a particular subset of cases, termed here polar-night jet oscillation (PJO) events. The anomalous zonal-mean circulation above the pole during this recovery is characterized by a persistently warm lower stratosphere, and above this a cold midstratosphere and anomalously high stratopause, which descends as the event unfolds. Composites of these events in the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model show the persistence of the lower-stratospheric anomaly is a result of strongly suppressed wave driving and weak radiative cooling at these heights. The upper-stratospheric and lower-mesospheric anomalies are driven immediately following the warming by anomalous planetary-scale eddies, following which, anomalous parameterized nonorographic and orographic gravity waves play an important role. These details are found to be robust for PJO events (as opposed to sudden warmings in general) in that many details of individual PJO events match the composite mean. A zonal-mean quasigeostrophic model on the sphere is shown to reproduce the response to the thermal and mechanical forcings produced during a PJO event. The former is well approximated by Newtonian cooling. The response can thus be considered as a transient approach to the steady-state, downward control limit. In this context, the time scale of the lower-stratospheric anomaly is determined by the transient, radiative response to the extended absence of wave driving. The extent to which the dynamics of the wave-driven descent of the stratopause can be considered analogous to the descending phases of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is also discussed.

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Climatology and Forcing of the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation in the MAECHAM5 Model

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli3830.1 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 19 (16) ◽

pp. 3882-3901 ◽

Cited By ~ 168

Author(s):

M. A. Giorgetta ◽

E. Manzini ◽

E. Roeckner ◽

M. Esch ◽

L. Bengtsson

Keyword(s):

Gravity Wave ◽

Zonal Wind ◽

General Circulation ◽

Large Scale ◽

Climate Models ◽

Middle Atmosphere ◽

General Circulation Models ◽

Wave Drag ◽

Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽

Biennial Oscillation

Abstract The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in the equatorial zonal wind is an outstanding phenomenon of the atmosphere. The QBO is driven by a broad spectrum of waves excited in the tropical troposphere and modulates transport and mixing of chemical compounds in the whole middle atmosphere. Therefore, the simulation of the QBO in general circulation models and chemistry climate models is an important issue. Here, aspects of the climatology and forcing of a spontaneously occurring QBO in a middle-atmosphere model are evaluated, and its influence on the climate and variability of the tropical middle atmosphere is investigated. Westerly and easterly phases are considered separately, and 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) data are used as a reference where appropriate. It is found that the simulated QBO is realistic in many details. Resolved large-scale waves are particularly important for the westerly phase, while parameterized gravity wave drag is more important for the easterly phase. Advective zonal wind tendencies are important for asymmetries between westerly and easterly phases, as found for the suppression of the easterly phase downward propagation. The simulation of the QBO improves the tropical upwelling and the atmospheric tape recorder compared to a model without a QBO. The semiannual oscillation is simulated realistically only if the QBO is represented. In sensitivity tests, it is found that the simulated QBO is strongly sensitive to changes in the gravity wave sources. The sensitivity to the tested range of horizontal resolutions is small. The stratospheric vertical resolution must be better than 1 km to simulate a realistic QBO.

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