Quasi-decadal modulation of the influence of the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation on the north polar stratospheric temperatures

1993 ◽  
Vol 98 (D4) ◽  
pp. 7245-7250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kunihiko Kodera
2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Fendeková ◽  
Pavla Pekárová ◽  
Marián Fendek ◽  
Ján Pekár ◽  
Peter Škoda

Abstract Changes in runoff parameters are very important for Slovakia, where stream-flow discharges, being supplied by precipitation and groundwater runoff, are preferentially influenced by climatic conditions. Therefore, teleconnections between runoff parameters, climate parameters and global atmospheric drivers such as North Atlantic Oscillation, Southern Pacific Oscillation, Quasi-biennial oscillation and solar activity were studied in the Nitra River Basin, Slovakia. Research was mostly based on records of 80 years (1931-2010) for discharges and baseflow, and 34 years for groundwater heads. Methods of autocorrelation, spectral analysis, cross-correlation and coherence function were used. Results of auto- correllograms for discharges, groundwater heads and base flow values showed a very distinct 11-year and 21-year periodicity. Spectrogram analysis documented the 11-year, 7.8-year, 3.6-year and 2.4-year periods in the discharge, precipitation and air temperature time series. The same cycles except of 11-years were also identified in the long-term series of the North Atlantic Oscillation and Southern Pacific Oscillation indices. The cycle from approximately 2.3 to 2.4-years is most likely connected with Quasi-biennial oscillation. The close negative correlation between the North Atlantic Oscillation winter index and the hydrological surface and groundwater parameters can be used for their prediction within the same year and also for one year in advance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 11447-11453 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Hurwitz ◽  
P. A. Newman ◽  
C. I. Garfinkel

Abstract. Despite the record ozone loss observed in March 2011, dynamical conditions in the Arctic stratosphere were unusual but not unprecedented. Weak planetary wave driving in February preceded cold anomalies in the polar lower stratosphere in March and a relatively late breakup of the Arctic vortex in April. La Niña conditions and the westerly phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) were observed in March 2011. Though these conditions are generally associated with a stronger vortex in mid-winter, the respective cold anomalies do not persist through March. Therefore, the La Niña and QBO-westerly conditions cannot explain the observed cold anomalies in March 2011. In contrast, positive sea surface temperature anomalies in the North Pacific may have contributed to the unusually weak tropospheric wave driving and strong Arctic vortex in late winter 2011.


2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 1273-1289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaim I. Garfinkel ◽  
Dennis L. Hartmann

Abstract A dry primitive equation model is used to explain how the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) of the tropical stratosphere can influence the troposphere, even in the absence of tropical convection anomalies and a variable stratospheric polar vortex. QBO momentum anomalies induce a meridional circulation to maintain thermal wind balance. This circulation includes zonal wind anomalies that extend from the equatorial stratosphere into the subtropical troposphere. In the presence of extratropical eddies, the zonal wind anomalies are intensified and extend downward to the surface. The tropospheric response differs qualitatively between integrations in which the subtropical jet is strong and integrations in which the subtropical jet is weak. While fluctuation–dissipation theory provides a guide to predicting the response in some cases, significant nonlinearity in others, particularly those designed to model the midwinter subtropical jet of the North Pacific, prevents its universal application. When the extratropical circulation is made zonally asymmetric, the response to the QBO is greatest in the exit region of the subtropical jet. The dry model is able to simulate much of the Northern Hemisphere wintertime tropospheric response to the QBO observed in reanalysis datasets and in long time integrations of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM).


2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (21) ◽  
pp. 5810-5825 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzana J. Camargo ◽  
Adam H. Sobel

Abstract The statistical relationship between the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and tropical cyclone (TC) activity is explored, with a focus on the North Atlantic. Although there is a statistically significant relationship between the QBO and TCs in the Atlantic from the 1950s to the 1980s, as found by previous studies, that relationship is no longer present in later years. Several possibilities for this change are explored, including the interaction with ENSO, volcanoes, QBO decadal variability, and interactions with solar forcing. None provides a completely satisfying explanation. In the other basins, the relationship is weaker than in the Atlantic, even in the early record.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Han ◽  
Wenshou Tian ◽  
Fei Xie

<p>Stratospheric hydrogen chloride (HCl) is the main stratospheric reservoir of chlorine, deriving from the decomposition of chlorine-containing source gases. Its trend has been used as a metrics of ozone depletion or recovery. Using the latest satellite observations, the authors find that a significant increase of Northern Hemisphere stratospheric HCl during 2010–2011 can mislead trends of HCl in recent decades. Agree with previous studies, HCl increased from 2005 to 2011; while when removing the large increase of stratospheric HCl during 2010–2011, the increasing linear trend from 2005 to 2011 becomes weak and insignificant, in addition, the linear trend of Northern Hemisphere stratospheric HCl from 2005 to 2016 also shows weak and insignificant. The significant increase of HCl during 2010–2011 is attributed to a super strong north polar vortex and a reduced residual circulation during 2010–2011, which slowed down the transport of HCl from the low–mid latitudes to the high latitudes, leading to accumulation of HCl in the middle latitudes of the stratosphere during 2010–2011. Further analysis suggests that the strong polar vortex and the reduced residual circulation were caused by the joint effect of a La Niña event and the west phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Jiang ◽  
Z. Sheng ◽  
H. Q. Shi

Abstract. In this study we investigate the spatial variabilities of the zonal mean temperature (20–100 km) from the TIMED (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics)/SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) satellite using the empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs). After removing the climatological annual mean, the first three EOFs are able to explain 87.0% of temperature variabilities. The primary EOF represents 74.1% of total anomalies and is dominated by the north–south contrast. Patterns in the second and third EOFs are related to the semiannual oscillations (SAO) and mesospheric temperature inversions (MTI), respectively. The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) component is also decomposed into the seventh EOF with contributions of 1.2%. Last, we use the first three modes and annual mean temperature to reconstruct the data. The result shows small differences are in low latitude, which increase with latitude in the middle stratosphere and upper mesosphere.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley J. Gray ◽  
James A. Anstey ◽  
Yoshio Kawatani ◽  
Hua Lu ◽  
Scott Osprey ◽  
...  

Abstract. Teleconnections between the Quasi Biennial Oscillation (QBO) and the Northern Hemisphere zonally-averaged zonal winds, mean sea level pressure (mslp) and tropical precipitation are explored using regression analysis. A novel technique is introduced to separate responses associated with the stratospheric polar vortex from other underlying mechanisms. A previously reported mslp response in January, with a pattern that resembles the positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) under QBO westerly conditions, is confirmed and found to be primarily associated with a QBO modulation of the stratospheric polar vortex. This mid-winter response is relatively insensitive to the exact height of the maximum QBO westerlies and a maximum response occurs with westerlies over a relatively deep range between 10–70 hPa. Two additional mslp responses are reported, in early winter (December) and late winter (February/March). In contrast to the January response the early and late winter responses show maximum sensitivity to the QBO winds at ~ 20 hPa and ~ 70 hPa but are relatively insensitive to the QBO winds in between (~ 50 hPa). The late winter response is centred over the North Pacific and is associated with QBO influence from the lowermost stratosphere at tropical/subtropical latitudes. The early winter response consists of anomalies over both the North Pacific and Europe, but the mechanism is unclear and requires further investigation. QBO anomalies are found in tropical precipitation amounts and a southward shift of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone under westerly QBO conditions is also evident.


Oxygen ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-45
Author(s):  
Kostas Eleftheratos ◽  
Dimitra Kouklaki ◽  
Christos Zerefos

Sixteen years (July 2003–July 2019) of ground-based measurements of total ozone in the urban environment of Athens, Greece, are analyzed in this work. Measurements were acquired with a single Brewer monochromator operating on the roof of the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens since July 2003. We estimate a 16-year climatological mean of total ozone in Athens of about 322 DU, with no significant change since 2003. Ozone data from the Brewer spectrophotometer were compared with TOMS, OMI, and GOME-2A satellite retrievals. The results reveal excellent correlations between the ground-based and satellite ozone measurements greater than 0.9. The variability of total ozone over Athens related to the seasonal cycle, the quasi biennial oscillation (QBO), the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the 11-year solar cycle, and tropopause pressure variability is presented.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 22113-22127 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Hurwitz ◽  
P. A. Newman ◽  
C. I. Garfinkel

Abstract. Despite the record ozone loss observed in March 2011, dynamical conditions in the Arctic stratosphere were unusual but not unprecedented. Weak planetary wave driving in February preceded cold anomalies in the polar lower stratosphere in March and a relatively late breakup of the Arctic vortex in April. La Niña conditions and the westerly phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) were observed in March 2011. Though these conditions are generally associated with a stronger vortex in mid-winter, the respective cold anomalies do not persist through March. Therefore, the La Niña and QBO-westerly conditions cannot explain the observed cold anomalies in March 2011. In contrast, positive sea surface temperature anomalies in the North Pacific may have contributed to the unusually weak tropospheric wave driving and strong Arctic vortex in late winter 2011.


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