Effects of Solar Proton Events of January 2005 on Intensity of the Stratospheric Polar Vortex

Abstract. The wintertime abundance of nitric acid (HNO3) in the polar upper stratosphere displays a strong inter-annual variability, and is known to be strongly influenced by energetic particle precipitation, primarily during solar proton events, but also by precipitating electrons in the auroral zone. While wintertime HNO3 enhancements in the polar upper stratosphere had been occasionally observed before, from the ground or from satellite, we present here measurements by the Sub-Millimeter Radiometer instrument aboard the Odin satellite through 6 full annual cycles (2001 to 2007). Major solar proton events, e.g. during November 2001 or the Halloween solar storms of autumn 2003, lead to a two-stage HNO3 enhancement, likely involving different chemical reactions: a fast (about 1 week) in-situ enhancement from the mid to the upper stratosphere is followed by a slower, longer-lasting one, whereby anomalies originating in the upper stratosphere can descend within the polar vortex into the lower stratosphere. We highlight the fact that the actual chemical coupling between the upper and lower atmosphere involves a complex interplay of chemistry, dynamics and energetic particle precipitation.

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List of Solar Proton Events in the 24 Cycle of Solar Activity (2009 ‒ 2019)

10.2205/esdb-sad-007-database ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Vitaly Ishkov ◽

Yury Logachev ◽

Galina Bazilevskaya ◽

Elena Daibog ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Activity ◽

Solar Proton ◽

Solar Proton Events

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Seasonal prediction of the boreal winter stratosphere

Climate Dynamics ◽

10.1007/s00382-021-05787-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alice Portal ◽

Paolo Ruggieri ◽

Froila M. Palmeiro ◽

Javier García-Serrano ◽

Daniela I. V. Domeisen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Southern Oscillation ◽

Polar Vortex ◽

Seasonal Prediction ◽

Wave Activity ◽

Boreal Winter ◽

Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽

Stratospheric Polar Vortex ◽

Eddy Heat Flux ◽

Prediction Systems ◽

Model Database

AbstractThe predictability of the Northern Hemisphere stratosphere and its underlying dynamics are investigated in five state-of-the-art seasonal prediction systems from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) multi-model database. Special attention is devoted to the connection between the stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) and lower-stratosphere wave activity (LSWA). We find that in winter (December to February) dynamical forecasts initialised on the first of November are considerably more skilful than empirical forecasts based on October anomalies. Moreover, the coupling of the SPV with mid-latitude LSWA (i.e., meridional eddy heat flux) is generally well reproduced by the forecast systems, allowing for the identification of a robust link between the predictability of wave activity above the tropopause and the SPV skill. Our results highlight the importance of November-to-February LSWA, in particular in the Eurasian sector, for forecasts of the winter stratosphere. Finally, the role of potential sources of seasonal stratospheric predictability is considered: we find that the C3S multi-model overestimates the stratospheric response to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and underestimates the influence of the Quasi–Biennial Oscillation (QBO).

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Effect of solar proton events in 1978 and 1979 on the odd nitrogen abundance in the middle atmosphere

Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres ◽

10.1029/jd093id06p07084 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 93 (D6) ◽

pp. 7084-7090 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Charles H. Jackman ◽

Paul E. Meade

Keyword(s):

Middle Atmosphere ◽

Solar Proton ◽

Nitrogen Abundance ◽

Solar Proton Events ◽

Odd Nitrogen

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Solar proton events during the past three solar cycles

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets ◽

10.2514/3.26086 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 26 (6) ◽

pp. 403-415 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

D. F. Smart ◽

M. A. Shea

Keyword(s):

Solar Proton ◽

Solar Cycles ◽

The Past ◽

Solar Proton Events

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Planetary Wave Breaking and Tropospheric Forcing as Seen in the Stratospheric Sudden Warming of 2006

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences ◽

10.1175/2008jas2784.1 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 66 (2) ◽

pp. 495-507 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

Lawrence Coy ◽

Stephen Eckermann ◽

Karl Hoppel

Keyword(s):

North Atlantic ◽

Wave Breaking ◽

Potential Temperature ◽

Polar Vortex ◽

Stratospheric Polar Vortex ◽

Stratospheric Sudden Warming ◽

Advanced Level ◽

Earth Observing System ◽

The North ◽

Temperature Surface

Abstract The major stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) of January 2006 is examined using meteorological fields from Goddard Earth Observing System version 4 (GEOS-4) analyses and forecast fields from the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System–Advanced Level Physics, High Altitude (NOGAPS-ALPHA). The study focuses on the upper tropospheric forcing that led to the major SSW and the vertical structure of the subtropic wave breaking near 10 hPa that moved low tropical values of potential vorticity (PV) to the pole. Results show that an eastward-propagating upper tropospheric ridge over the North Atlantic with its associated cold temperature perturbations (as manifested by high 360-K potential temperature surface perturbations) and large positive local values of meridional heat flux directly forced a change in the stratospheric polar vortex, leading to the stratospheric subtropical wave breaking and warming. Results also show that the anticyclonic development, initiated by the subtropical wave breaking and associated with the poleward advection of the low PV values, occurred over a limited altitude range of approximately 6–10 km. The authors also show that the poleward advection of this localized low-PV anomaly was associated with changes in the Eliassen–Palm (EP) flux from equatorward to poleward, suggesting an important role for Rossby wave reflection in the SSW of January 2006. Similar upper tropospheric forcing and subtropical wave breaking were found to occur prior to the major SSW of January 2003.

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