scholarly journals Biases in Stratospheric and Tropospheric Temperature Trends Derived from Historical Radiosonde Data

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 2094-2104 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Randel ◽  
Fei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Satellite Measurements ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Step Functions ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract Temperature trends derived from historical radiosonde data often show substantial differences compared to satellite measurements. These differences are especially large for stratospheric levels, and for data in the Tropics, where results are based on relatively few stations. Detailed comparisons of one radiosonde dataset with collocated satellite measurements from the Microwave Sounding Unit reveal time series differences that occur as step functions or jumps at many stations. These jumps occur at different times for different stations, suggesting that the differences are primarily related to problems in the radiosonde data, rather than in the satellite record. As a result of these jumps, the radiosondes exhibit systematic cooling biases relative to the satellites. A large number of the radiosonde stations in the Tropics are influenced by these biases, suggesting that cooling in the tropical lower stratosphere is substantially overestimated in these radiosonde data. Comparison of trends from stations with larger and smaller biases suggests the cooling bias extends into the tropical upper troposphere. Significant biases are observed in both daytime and nighttime radiosonde measurements.

scholarly journals Construction of the RSS V3.2 Lower-Tropospheric Temperature Dataset from the MSU and AMSU Microwave Sounders

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1493-1509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl A. Mears ◽  
Frank J. Wentz
Keyword(s):  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Weighting Function ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Satellite Measurements ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Microwave Sounding

Abstract Measurements made by microwave sounding instruments provide a multidecadal record of atmospheric temperature in several thick atmospheric layers. Satellite measurements began in late 1978 with the launch of the first Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) and have continued to the present via the use of measurements from the follow-on series of instruments, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU). The weighting function for MSU channel 2 is centered in the middle troposphere but contains significant weight in the lower stratosphere. To obtain an estimate of tropospheric temperature change that is free from stratospheric effects, a weighted average of MSU channel 2 measurements made at different local zenith angles is used to extrapolate the measurements toward the surface, which results in a measurement of changes in the lower troposphere. In this paper, a description is provided of methods that were used to extend the MSU method to the newer AMSU channel 5 measurements and to intercalibrate the results from the different types of satellites. Then, satellite measurements are compared to results from homogenized radiosonde datasets. The results are found to be in excellent agreement with the radiosonde results in the northern extratropics, where the majority of the radiosonde stations are located.

scholarly journals Estimation of Tropospheric Temperature Trends from MSU Channels 2 and 4

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy W. Spencer ◽  
John R. Christy ◽  
William D. Braswell ◽  
William B. Norris
Keyword(s):  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Training Dataset ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Ancillary Data ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Target Layer ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Temperature Measure

Abstract The problems inherent in the estimation of global tropospheric temperature trends from a combination of near-nadir Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) channel-2 and -4 data are described. The authors show that insufficient overlap between those two channels’ weighting functions prevents a physical removal of the stratospheric influence on tropospheric channel 2 from the stratospheric channel 4. Instead, correlations between stratospheric and tropospheric temperature fluctuations based upon ancillary (e.g., radiosonde) information can be used to statistically estimate a correction for the stratospheric influence on MSU 2 from MSU 4. Fu et al. developed such a regression relationship from radiosonde data using the 850–300-hPa layer as the target predictand. There are large errors in the resulting fit of the two MSU channels to the tropospheric target layer, so the correlations from the ancillary data must be relied upon to provide a statistical minimization of the resulting errors. Such relationships depend upon the accuracy of the particular training dataset as well as the dataset time period and its global representativeness (i.e., temporal and spatial stationarity of the statistics). It is concluded that near-nadir MSU channels 2 and 4 cannot be combined to provide a tropospheric temperature measure without substantial uncertainty resulting from a necessary dependence on ancillary information regarding the vertical profile of temperature variations, which are, in general, not well known on a global basis.

scholarly journals Robustness of Tropospheric Temperature Trends from MSU Channels 2 and 4

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (17) ◽  
pp. 4234-4242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste M. Johanson ◽  
Qiang Fu
Keyword(s):  
Training Dataset ◽  
Retrieval Algorithm ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Stratospheric Cooling ◽  
Global Mean

Abstract Tropospheric temperature trends based on Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) channel 2 data are susceptible to contamination from strong stratospheric cooling. Recently, Fu et al. devised a method of removing the stratospheric contamination by linearly combining data from MSU channels 2 and 4. In this study the sensitivity of the weights of the two channels in the retrieval algorithm for the tropospheric temperatures to the choice of period of record used in the analysis and to the choice of training dataset is examined. The weights derived using monthly temperature anomalies are within about 10% of those obtained by Fu et al. irrespective of the choice of analysis period or training dataset. The trend errors in the retrieved global-mean tropospheric temperatures tested using two independent radiosonde datasets are less than about 0.01 K decade−1 for all time periods of 25 yr or longer with different starting and ending years during 1958–2004. It is found that the retrievals are more robust if they are interpreted in terms of the layer-mean temperature for the entire troposphere, rather than the mean of the 850–300-hPa layer. Because large spurious jumps remain in the reanalyses, especially prior to 1979, one should be cautious when using them as training datasets and in testing the trend errors.

Removing Diurnal Cycle Contamination in Satellite-Derived Tropospheric Temperatures: Understanding Tropical Tropospheric Trend Discrepancies

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 2274-2290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Po-Chedley ◽  
Tyler J. Thorsen ◽  
Qiang Fu
Keyword(s):  
Diurnal Cycle ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
University Of Alabama ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
The University ◽  
Diurnal Correction

Abstract Independent research teams have constructed long-term tropical time series of the temperature of the middle troposphere (TMT) using satellite Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) and Advanced MSU (AMSU) measurements. Despite careful efforts to homogenize the MSU/AMSU measurements, tropical TMT trends beginning in 1979 disagree by more than a factor of 3. Previous studies suggest that the discrepancy in tropical TMT trends is caused by differences in both the NOAA-9 warm target factor and diurnal drift corrections. This work introduces a new observationally based method for removing biases related to satellite diurnal drift. Over land, the derived diurnal correction is similar to a general circulation model (GCM) diurnal cycle. Over ocean, the diurnal corrections have a negligible effect on TMT trends, indicating that oceanic biases are small. It is demonstrated that this method is effective at removing biases between coorbiting satellites and biases between nodes of individual satellites. Using a homogenized TMT dataset, the ratio of tropical tropospheric temperature trends relative to surface temperature trends is in accord with the ratio from GCMs. It is shown that bias corrections for diurnal drift based on a GCM produce tropical trends very similar to those from the observationally based correction, with a trend difference smaller than 0.02 K decade−1. Differences between various TMT datasets are explored further. Large differences in tropical TMT trends between this work and that of the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are attributed to differences in the treatment of the NOAA-9 target factor and the diurnal cycle correction.

scholarly journals Effect of Exclusion of Anomalous Tropical Stations on Temperature Trends from a 63-Station Radiosonde Network, and Comparison with Other Analyses

2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (13) ◽  
pp. 2288-2295 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Angell
Keyword(s):  
Global Changes ◽  
Station Network ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
A Value ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Stratospheric Cooling ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Large Standard Error

Abstract A 63-station radiosonde network has been used for many years to estimate temperature variations and trends at the surface and in the 850–300-, 300–100-, and 100–50-mb layers of climate zones, both hemispheres, and the globe, but with little regard for the quality of individual station data. In this paper, nine tropical radiosonde stations in this network are identified as anomalous based on unrepresentatively large standard-error-of-regression values for 300–100-mb trends for the period 1958–2000. In the Tropics the exclusion of the 9 anomalous stations from the 63-station network for 1958–2000 results in a warming of the 300–100-mb layer rather than a cooling, a doubling of the warming of the 850–300-mb layer to a value of 0.13 K decade−1, and a greater warming at 850–300-mb than at the surface. The global changes in trend are smaller, but include a change to the same warming of the surface and the 850–300-mb layer during 1958–2000. The effect of the station exclusions is much less for 1979–2000, suggesting that most of the data problems are before this time. Temperature trends based on the 63-station network are compared with the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) and other radiosonde trends, and agreement is better after the exclusion of the anomalous stations. There is consensus that in the Tropics the troposphere has warmed slightly more than the surface during 1958–2000, but that there has been a warming of the surface relative to the troposphere during 1979–2000. Globally, the warming of the surface and the troposphere are essentially the same during 1958–2000, but during 1979–2000 the surface warms more than the troposphere. During the latter period the radiosondes indicate considerably more low-stratospheric cooling in the Tropics than does the MSU.

Stratospheric Influences on MSU-Derived Tropospheric Temperature Trends: A Direct Error Analysis

2004 ◽  
Vol 17 (24) ◽  
pp. 4636-4640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Fu ◽  
Celeste M. Johanson
Keyword(s):  
Error Analysis ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Retrieval Method ◽  
The Past ◽  
Stratospheric Temperature ◽  
Retrieval Technique ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Angular Scanning

Abstract Retrievals of tropospheric temperature trends from data of the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) are subject to biases related to the strong cooling of the stratosphere during the past few decades. The magnitude of this stratospheric contamination in various retrievals is estimated using stratospheric temperature trend profiles based on observations. It is found that from 1979 to 2001 the stratospheric contribution to the trend of MSU channel-2 brightness temperature is about −0.08 K decade−1, which is consistent with the findings of Fu et al. In the retrieval method developed by Fu et al. based on a linear combination of MSU channels 2 and 4, the stratospheric influence is largely removed, leaving a residual influence of less than ±0.01 K decade−1. This method is also found to be more accurate than the angular scanning retrieval technique of Spencer and Christy to remove the stratospheric contamination.

scholarly journals Changes in Stratospheric Temperatures and Their Implications for Changes in the Brewer–Dobson Circulation, 1979–2005

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 1759-1772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J. Young ◽  
Karen H. Rosenlof ◽  
Susan Solomon ◽  
Steven C. Sherwood ◽  
Qiang Fu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Seasonal Cycle ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Decadal Variability ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Apparent Shift ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Linear Trends

Seasonally and vertically resolved changes in the strength of the Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) were inferred using temperatures measured by the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU), Stratospheric Sounding Unit (SSU), and radiosondes. Linear trends in an empirically derived “BDC index” (extratropical minus tropical temperatures), over 1979–2005, were found to be consistent with a significant strengthening of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) branch of the BDC during December throughout the depth of the stratosphere. Trends in the same index suggest a significant strengthening of the Southern Hemisphere branch of the BDC during August through to the midstratosphere, as well as a significant weakening during March in the NH lower stratosphere. Such trends, however, are only significant if it is assumed that interannual variability due to the BDC can be removed by regression of the tropics against the extratropics and vice versa (i.e., exploiting the out-of-phase nature of tropical and extratropical temperatures as demonstrated by previous studies of temperature and the BDC). The possibility that the apparent lower-stratosphere BDC December strengthening and March weakening could point to a change in the seasonal cycle of the circulation is also explored. The differences between a 1979–91 average and 1995–2005 average tropical temperature seasonal cycle in lower-stratospheric MSU data show an apparent shift in the minimum from February to January, consistent with a change in the timing of the maximum wave driving. Additionally, the importance of decadal variability in shaping the overall trends is highlighted, in particular for the suggested March BDC weakening, which may now be strengthening from a minimum in the 1990s.

scholarly journals The Stratospheric Changes Inferred from 10 Years of AIRS and AMSU-A Radiances

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (15) ◽  
pp. 6005-6016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Pan ◽  
Xianglei Huang ◽  
Stephen S. Leroy ◽  
Pu Lin ◽  
L. Larrabee Strow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cooling Rate ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Natural Variability ◽  
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder ◽  
Stratospheric Temperature ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Microwave Radiances ◽  
Global Mean

Global-mean radiances observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit A (AMSU-A) are analyzed from 2003 to 2012. The focus of this study is on channels sensitive to emission and absorption in the stratosphere. Optimal fingerprinting is used to obtain estimates of changes of stratospheric temperature in five vertical layers due to external forcing in the presence of natural variability. Natural variability is estimated using synthetic radiances based on the 500-yr GFDL CM3 and 240-yr HadGEM2-CC control runs. The results show a cooling rate of 0.65 ± 0.11 (2 σ) K decade−1 in the upper stratosphere above 6 hPa, approximately 0.46 ± 0.24 K decade−1 in two midstratospheric layers between 6 and 30 hPa, and 0.39 ± 0.32 K decade−1 in the lower stratosphere (30–60 hPa). The cooling rate in the lowest part of the stratosphere (60–100 hPa) is −0.014 ± 0.22 K decade−1, which is smallest among all five layers and statistically insignificant. The synergistic use of well-calibrated passive infrared and microwave radiances permits disambiguation of trends of carbon dioxide and stratospheric temperature, increases vertical resolution of detected stratospheric temperature trends, and effectively reduces uncertainties of estimated temperature trends.

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